“Imagination brings about not just intimacy but a big intimacy, a sense of union with the cosmos, a sense of belonging and being at home, of our knowing we have not only a right to be here but a task to do as well while we are here.” (Fox, 2004, p. 3).
Creativity, or your creation power, is your innate ability to create whatever you choose in life. The urge to be creative is not about the desire to be different, unique, or perfect, but about harnessing your courage and allowing for vulnerability so that you can be fully alive and authentically you. The greatest killers to creativity are the status quo, ego, fear of being judged, doubt, competitiveness, apathy, and helplessness.
People do not seek creativity because it leads to the easiest or most fun path, but because they feel an inner urge to express. Good medical doctors do not pursue medical degrees because it is fun or easy, but because they desire the necessary information and skills to heal others. Authentic artists create because they feel the urge to do so, not to promote the self and earn an income. Although it is nice when your craft affords you the life you desire, it is not the reason for creating.
A retired art teacher once told me that creativity is an essential skill for students to learn how to solve problems. I couldn’t agree more. Giving students the opportunity to creatively figure things out on their own will help them navigate through life in a self-sufficient, meaningful, and successful manner.
“We are told by those who have studied the processes of nature that creativity happens at the border between chaos and order. Chaos is a prelude to creativity” (Fox, 2004, p. 6).
The creative process necessarily comes from chaos, because a change would not be desired if existing conditions were perfect. The introduction of a problem in your life invites you to imagine a new way, revision, and reconstruction. Problems, then, are nothing more than opportunities to learn new ways of thinking, feeling, doing, and being. Change, then, is not a product of life but the purpose of it.
How can you learn to be more creative? It all starts with the right question, the impetus, the problem. From the moment the problem is introduced, the mind goes to work on a solution. The quality of the questions will affect the quality of the answers received. Don’t ask, “Why does this always happen to me?” or “Why am I not further in life?” These questions invite stuckness, negativity, and the creation of more of the same. Instead, to promote constructive change, ask, “How can I most effectively create a great (fill in the blank)?” Or, if you have a specific problem, ask in a proactive manner how you can best solve that problem. Any question, honestly asked, invites the Universe to move in, answer the question, and help solve the problem.
Because of free will, the Universe respects your right to self-determine and define your own path. Therefore, you must ASK if you want to RECEIVE the answer or solution. Remember, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew, 7:7-8).
If you ever get stuck in the problem and cannot access the needed creative skills to resolve the issue, you must find a way to loosen up so you can get movement in your thoughts. Meditation, sleep, walking in nature, and listening to music are great methods for unlocking creativity. When you are able to loosen the reins of the cluttered conscious mind, you have the chance to reboot the whole system. Therefore, asking questions before entering a relaxed or sleeping state allows your mind to work on the problem once it is freed up.
Another means of increasing creativity is total engagement. Some people experience great spells of creativity while in a conscious state, which has been termed flow by positive psychologist Csikszentmihalyi. He defines flow as “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it” (1990, p. 4). These are moments in which you are challenged to stretch your thinking, enter a peak state, and get completely immersed in the activity at hand. Time may fly and you may even lose the sense of your surroundings, creating a tunnel vision type of awareness whereby you get so connected that everything irrelevant drops away for a period of time. Flow feels like a deeply spiritual phenomenon because in the process you may let go of the ego and embrace a deep sense of connectedness.
In my experience, creativity is a spiritual life force. I have harnessed it while making dinner, playing music, engaging in deep discussions, writing, teaching, observing nature, meditating, etc. I have learned that creativity is not so much about what you think or do, but rather about how you approach certain things in life. It is life-giving, but not necessarily something that you can engage all day every day. That would be exhausting. Rather, I engage my creativity at times when that type of energy can be well used. It is a sacred type of energy that can be used to build or destroy, yet the laws of karma are universal and not preferential so we must choose wisely!
References
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper Perennial.
Fox, Matthew (2004). Creativity: Where the divine and human meet. New York: Penguin.
NIV study bible (2011). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.