Creativity: 5 Practices For Holding On to Your Creativity

Creativity as a Calling

The dimensions of creativity are vast. Massive. Spiritual. Mysterious. Adding to the ongoing cultural, and therapeutic conversation of creativity, I hope to focus the discussion by remembering and inviting simplicity: the everyday act of binding creativity to our bones. By cracking open and growing through the broken places; seeing ordinary things as strange, wild, and unfamiliar; and following the pulse of life are the clarion calls of everyday creativity. Each day, you face the truth of what needs to be laid bare, and vulnerable. The launching of a continuous creative self is the call. You are enough. You are your witness.

The risk is to do nothing.

 

Cultivating Everyday Creativity

As a child, do you recall your imaginative playful energetic self reaching out? Wholly, and wildly embodied, you were natural, and impulsive, as you explored the cross currents of your essential creative being. Somewhere along the way, answering the questions of self-expression becomes replaced with the many faces of fear. These culprits of fear, willing to play the roles of critic, squash the rolling swell, and growing power of creativity. Creativity goes underground, organizing around the core belief of not being good enough, the fear of being vulnerable, or the chronic symptoms of depression, and anxiety. It can be a traumatic experience to give up one’s ability to follow the impulse, and need to be creative.

We are creative beings.

 

Creativity as a Question

Creativity can feel elusive, hiding in the shadows, and in plain sight. We can guess what it is, and imagine what it isn’t. What is creativity, this natural force, this symptom of being alive? Certainly, it is a quickening of bringing forth something new into the world. We generate novelty through the imperative to create. We risk stability by inviting the unexpected. We hold the tools of imagination, empathy, and honesty. We understand mystery — how the psyche, and the collective experience — transform. We are all too familiar with the natural forces of resistance, which drag the touchstone of creativity away from our tender grasp. We forget to stand in our own light, and we forget to explore how we stand in our own shadow. We often fear these impulses to intentionally wrestle with new ideas, meeting the spontaneity of creating from the heart, in answering the question, “Who am I?”

 

Creativity as an Antidote

Anxiety, depression, and trauma can place limitations on the ways creativity wants, and needs to fulfill itself. Where self-agency once resided, a sense of brokenness spreads. Balancing intentionality and spontaneity in living, and in being a creative being cease. Someone, who is in the throes of challenging situations and emotions, requires a direct route to their creativity. It can feel impossible, overwhelming, and exhausting to begin the process of regaining creative self-expression. Met with compassion, each person who is suffering requires an individualized, step by step guideline. Creativity is a series of random choices, creating a whole. The idea is to start with anything doable, and complete it from start to finish. Deal with the fear. Do it and quit it. Like it or hate it. Forgive yourself and move on. This invites the transformative process of embodying, and remembering capabilities, and wholeness. The psyche, with its powerful and personal symbols, has the opportunity to mark the sacred places.

You unlock meaning, discovering your unique creative signature.

 

Creativity as a Divine Force

The endowment of creativity, the omnipotent divine universal force, as it flows through and surrounds us, is a state of wonder and reverence. It’s the longing to connect, diving deeper into the well, where {mind, body, and spirit} reside as one. By following what you love, what you find beautiful, and what you fear, you begin to individuate. There’s a perceptible shift of connecting creativity, play, and imagination to the realms of spirituality. And, we are the conduits.

Curiosity is a beautiful way to begin.

 

Creativity as a Practice

The journey begins anywhere, at any time. Everyday creativity involves a shift in perception, and behavior: identify yourself as an everyday creative, and name the subtle, ordinary, and untamed ways your innate creativity flows.

[bctt tweet=”Daily acts of creativity are tiny rebellions, advocating for your right to have fun. “] 

Here are five reminders:

1. Creativity is like being a bug on the windshield. Hang on, and go with it.
2. It’s an art to not follow directions. Trust your creative impulse walking in nature, or standing at the bathroom sink.
3. Your creativity signature is a lot like a cowlick: messy, and completely unique.
4. Remember to find the beauty in the ordinary, in the everyday, and wherever you may wander.
5. What remains is enough.

Here’s a quick and dirty list of five practices, to reclaim your inner creative-self:

1. Cultivate Curiosity. Ask questions, allowing for the unknown, and for possible failure.
2. Cultivate being in the here and now. Trust in the process, immersing in the present moment.
3. Cultivate Mindfulness. Notice the space between the thoughts where there is stillness and     quiet, connecting to yourself, and all that is.
4. Cultivate Sensuality. Use all of your senses and body, taking yourself out into nature, or somewhere unfamiliar.
5. Cultivate Simplicity. Embrace the lure of becoming, following your energy, and intuition in small measurable steps.

Many blessings on your journey in embodying your phenomenal creative self.