For years people have labored to describe the emotional rush that happens when you get the revelation of a creative breakthrough. The words flash and strike are frequently used, no doubt to describe the lightning-like suddenness with which a creative moment blossoms within the human brain. And I suppose the same kind of thinking is why cartoon characters get light bulbs drawn above their heads - certainly it's not for as plebian a reason as the fact that Edison's incandescent light bulb was a great idea. I think it has to do with that blinding dazzle that happens when you realize that you have given birth to an idea.
So when I heard the term White Moment while watching the PBS series The Creative Spirit, I knew that the phrase was inspired. It fit perfectly the entire experience described above. And from then on, I adopted the phrase to describe such phenomenon.
Now I'm not sure where the term white moment officially came from. It may have come from the Russian language, as is described in this article about, of all things, playing darts. Even still the phrase makes sense, because it's in the context of dealing with a sudden revelation.
Or, as the companion book to the PBS series describes it, in this excerpt from Psychology Today:
When creativity is in full fire, people can experience what athletes and performers call the "white moment." Everything clicks. Your skills are so perfectly suited to the challenge that you seem to blend with it. Everything feels harmonious, unified, and effortless.
That white moment is what psychologists call "flow." In flow, people are at their peak. Flow can happen in any domain of activity. The one requirement is that your skills so perfectly match the demands of the moment that all self-consciousness disappears.
