Calm is often accompanied by a certain level of clarity of thought and a reduced sense of urgency or pressure.

We can achieve calmness through various activities (e.g., listening to music, reading a book, taking a walk) or developing certain habits (e.g., practicing mindfulness, showing compassion for ourselves and others, and seeking meaningful connections, etc.)

Some researchers have found that being calm allows us to be more aware and receptive. For instance, a 2007 paper by Heleen Slagter et al. describes an experiment where participants went through meditation training for three months before taking what is called an "attentional blink task" where they were shown a rapid sequence of images and asked to identify specific targets. What the researchers found was that the participants detected more target images after having trained than before, suggesting that mindfulness practices may enhancer attentiveness.

Some, like Shelly Gable, Elizabeth Hopper, and Jonathan Schooler, suggest that creativity can emerge through mind-wandering—those spontaneous thoughts that arise when we're not focused on a specific task or stimulus, such as during daydreaming, and which can occur when we are in a state of relaxation.