However, emerging research suggests that the positive vs. negative emotions distinction may not be the most important contrast for understanding attentional focus.

The long-standing view in psychology is that positive emotions are conducive to creativity because they broaden the mind, whereas negative emotions are detrimental to creativity because they narrow one’s focus.

It’s true that attentional focus does have important effects on creative thinking

research conducted by psychologist Eddie Harmon-Jones and his colleagues suggests that the critical variable influencing one’s scope of attention is not emotional valence (positive vs. negative emotions) but motivational intensity, or how strongly you feel compelled to either approach or avoid something.

low motivational states facilitate the search for new goals to pursue, whereas high motivational states focus us on completing a specific goal.

Positive emotions low motivational intensity- e.g pleasant broadened the mind (measured by subjects making more holistic matches to a target stimulus)

high motivational intensity- e.g desire narrowed subjects’ scope of attention (subjects made more detail-oriented matches to a target stimulus)

negative emotions low motivational intensity- e.g sadness broadened attentional focus

high motivational intensity- e.g disgust a state of high motivational intensity for avoidance) narrowed focus.

If you want to keep an open mind and see the big picture, it’s probably best if you’re just in a pleasant (or even sad) mood.

If, however, you really need to buckle down and focus on making a new idea practical, high motivational intensity can be just the ticket.

Psychologists studying creativity have discovered that it is based on cognitive processes we all share. Creativity is not the result of some magic brain region that some people have and others don't.

creativity isn't limited to left-leaning designers, artists, and architects alone. Ideas and inspiration can (and should) come from everyone, regardless of their background.

Follow these steps and you'll find creativity can be achieved in just about any context.

Insights: defining the problem First, start by defining the problem at hand. Keep reframing the problem until it's clear to you and the others working on it. The problem and the path to resolution should be rooted in research and user-validation.

Saturation: getting in the mindset Immerse yourself in whatever information is available, then dig deeper for more.

Incubation: letting it all sink in "thinking aside", as you're essentially putting your brain on the shelf and stepping away. By turning off your mind this way, you're allowing the information to set in and that subsequent spark of creativity the necessary room to ignite.

Illumination: the notable 'aha!' moment We know this as the "Aha!" moment that hits when we least expect it. Whether in the shower or in line at the grocery store, it's the unforeseen moment during which that thousand watt light bulb suddenly turns on and the solution seems clear.

Verification: remove any biasOnce you've hooked that brilliant idea, it's time to reel it in and conduct a close-up examination.

Mankind can be very magnanimous, given the chance.

The fact that religion plays such a part in how people vote troubles me, troubles me as a minister's daughter. Because I always felt that the separation of church and state was what our forefathers and foremothers really fought for.

Feature film can have a major role in explaining ideas and describing peoples' lives and their struggles.

After all, there was something rather pleasant in knowing that you were misunderstood. It made you feel different from everyone else.

I'm allergic to Hawaii. Everything there makes me react in some way.

If I could learn to treat triumph and disaster the same, then I would find bliss.

On the first day I got my wheelchair, I was also given all my clothes for the next day, a little pile on the chair. I was so proud of myself for getting it all on - the socks and everything. Dressing is a struggle, and it can take up to an hour and a half.

I use all my skills that I can muster up, but the fun thing is that I find some untapped skills every once in a while. I get that from my daddy.

Anybody who dedicates himself to exploring the human condition, there's always a detached eye that's watching. In any situation, a little part of me is observing it, to see if there are any raw materials to create something else later.

I have a list of ideas that I want to do for my art series, but I'm always trying to figure out what's going to work. Ever since I was in art school, I would read and get ideas. Sometimes the photograph sparks an idea in me, and I continue in that direction.

A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.

And before he walked away he whispered to me, just because the timing is off does not mean you and I are not destined to be. There's no end to our story.

Yahoo! is the only company with both scale and leadership in branded and search advertising.

I think we all have those moments at one point or other in our lives... when we see someone and immediately imagine a whole universe around them. A relationship, a future, and all based on just a second which might not even have been in their company. It's amazing how quickly the human mind can come up with this stuff.

Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.

I suffer from an amazing amount of insecurities, and I'm grateful that my body image, it's normally not something I pay attention to.

I've got a lot of fans, but I say friends, because every time I meet a fan somewhere around the world, I don't consider them a fan; I consider them as a friend.

It was probably when I met Jeff Hamilton, the drummer I've been working with for the last 20 years. He's the one who brought Ray Brown to hear me sing at a restaurant in my hometown.

Rule number one is, don't sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it's all small stuff.

I'm my own person. You can't generalise about people.

I wasn't hugely popular at school. In fact, I was bullied at school.

Healthy people are invalids who don't know it.

It is probably very necessary to present your ego at some point.

We can know that the Christian God cannot exist. If he is all-powerful and all-good, as Christians maintain, there would not have been, for instance, the Holocaust. This is an inherent self-contradiction. So if Christians insist on having a God, they can do so, but if they have any respect for logic they'll have to redefine who he is.