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Creative people are among our most celebrated historical figures, yet most of us treat creativity as an entirely optional pastime, especially if we see ourselves as “not a creative person.” We all know that gifted individuals such as Einstein, Kahlo, Mozart, Rowling, Socrates, and Edison, who gave life to their creativity, greatly impacted our culture and development. But oddly, unless we’re oozing talent (and even then) we often we view creative endeavors as too frivolous to warrant the expenditure of energy.
Creativity is one of our most unrecognized and undervalued abilities. Without it, our species would be unremarkable among the animal kingdom. We’d have no tools or clothes, no stories or music, no cooking or language. But because we have creative power we have innovated, and our lives are longer and richer because of it.
By definition, to create is “to bring into existence.” Consciousness flows through us, we shape it, and something Is brought into existence. Whether we’re aware of it or not, this is special. And it’s happening all the time.
Some of the most basic expressions of your creative power are the words you choose to speak and write, the ways you move your body, the work you engage in, how you dress and adorn yourself, the food you make, how you choose to spend your money, the affection you give, the plants you grow, the art you put on your walls, and how you choose to show up in your community.
You are living creativity. You can’t stop it. To be truly aware of this fact is to be empowered and inspired. It can become a spiritual practice. It can become a means of knowing and healing yourself. It can be energizing. It can be fun. It can lift you out of depression and despair. It can give you hope. It can change the world.
I’d love it if you’d reflect on these questions:
- What happens when I own my creative power?
- What changes when I become an active participant in the creating that I’m doing?
- What does it mean to choose my place in the universe as a creator?
- How do I feel when I let myself create?
- Can I tune in to the energy that moves through me and drives my expressions?
- What does it feel like?
- Does this power flow freely or is it impeded in some way?
- What happens when I relax and open myself to it?
Side note: the idea I’m presenting has sometimes been misconstrued by new age thinkers to mean, “You are the sole creator, and everything that happens is because YOU asked for it. So you must have unwittingly brought erectile dysfunction and cankles to the world.” This doesn’t make sense and it’s a recipe for guilt. If you’ve adopted this belief, I encourage you to let it go.
You share the planet with billions of creators, and you’re not in competition with them. However, most aren’t especially mindful of their creative power. Again, when we be become mindful of it, it’s inspiring and empowering. We’re more effective at bringing our chosen intentions into existence. And when our intentions arise from love (rather than fear), we’re more effective still.
The empowering shift I’m suggesting begins simply with mindfulness of the creative power you’re already exercising throughout your life. Gradually you’ll feel less like “life is happening to me” and more like “I’m an active creator in this life.”
Be well,
Peter
[post_title] => Creativity: It's Not Optional
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A few weeks ago I wrote about creativity – how instrumental it’s been in the development of our species and cultures, how much it adds to the enjoyment of our lives, and how it’s not optional. We all have creative power and we’re all using it, even if we’re not painters or musicians. When we recognize this and become conscious of our ongoing creative expression, this changes our relationship with life in a wonderful way.
That first step – the recognition that we shape life as it flows through us – is the most important. If you don’t consider yourself an artist or you feel you haven’t got a good imagination, it may be difficult to claim this creative power. But if you can see that your day is full of choices, perhaps you can accept that these many choices are a continuous stream of creative possibilities.
Today let’s look at a next step. Consider the palette you’re choosing from.
Imagine if the Universe said to itself, “That rock turned out pretty well. I think I’ll just keep creating rocks. I could try something new, but people might think I’m weird or I might fail, and besides I’m not very creative. Rocks are comfortable and easy and safe and they don’t rock the boat. Oh, I made a little joke. Hmm, better stick with rocks.”
While everything from your clothing choices to the food you make to the words you say are expressions of your creativity, it’s possible to create in way that’s essentially an unvarying repetition of the same patterns. If you wholeheartedly choose this because it’s sincerely what you want, that’s fine. But if you’re actually stuck, that’s another matter. Humans can get into ruts, creating strictly from a palette of past experiences.
Imagine a bright source of light – the Source. Against the center of the light is an old slide of a photo from when you were born. In front of that slide is another from infancy when your brother dropped you on your head. In front of that is a slide from your first day of preschool. There are millions of slides for every memorable thing that ever happened. Here at the present, the light that passes through this massive stack of slides is kind of dim and colored with an unfathomable array of images.
If you illuminate your life entirely from the trickle of light coming through this stack of slides, it’s difficult to see clearly, much less to evolve or to create in a way that feels exciting and alive. I’m not saying you should forsake your history. I just want to point out that the stack of slides only obscures one area of the light. It’s easy to get in the habit of seeing through the slides. It’s full of familiar points of reference. But there’s plenty of unfiltered Source light streaming around the stack, ready to spark something new.
What if you let a little of that light in?
When we open ourselves to living closer to the frontier of creation (letting more Source light through) rather than rearranging the collage of our past, we begin to create in the now. We become an active partner in the play of the Divine.
Instead of living on the autopilot drive of “What does my personality want [in order to feel in control, approved of, safe, loved, etc.]?” try asking, “What wants to come into existence through me?”
Instead of, “What would my history prompt me to create?” try asking “What does Source want to create?”
Instead of creating from an underlying feeling of insecurity or fear, consider, “If my only objective were to play as a conscious creator, what would I create?”
Or, “If I needed nothing, what would I create?”
Or, “If Unconditional Love were in my driver’s seat, what would I create?”
For further guidance I encourage you to check out Briana’s online program called Awakening the Creator. It’s excellent.
Be well,
Peter
[post_title] => Start Creating from the Source
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A few years ago, my wife and I were at a school meeting and the teacher, a seasoned elder, was telling the parents about the various challenges our kids were facing. As we concluded she said, “You’ve got great kids. The thing is . . .” She paused and seemed hesitant, and then set her jaw and continued, “Look, I don’t mean to offend anyone, and I hope you’ll take this the right way because it’s important. Your kids lack grit.” As she scanned our faces, I think she wanted to say that many of us adults lacked grit too.
We still have certain hardships today, but because life is undoubtedly easier for most people, it’s quite possible to live a normal lifespan with very little grit. Although this grit deficiency is widespread among modern people, the upside is that we generally have higher emotional intelligence than our ancestors did.
There’s a big difference between managing intense emotions because we’re emotionally intelligent versus being unaffected by emotions because we don’t feel them. Grit often goes along with emotional suppression, which was probably a more common coping mechanism in previous generations, in part because we just didn’t talk about our feelings much. The downside was a narrowed experience of life and lots of dysfunctional relationships.
My point is that what we call “grit” often comes at a high price. But grit and emotional intelligence aren’t mutually exclusive qualities. We can be tough without being shut down emotionally. In fact, the better we understand our emotional landscape, the more resilient we are, the healthier our supportive relationships are, and the less daunting it is to step out of our comfort zone.
The cultivation of both grit and emotional intelligence requires a willingness to be uncomfortable. When you think of a person with grit perhaps you imagine them sleeping on the ground, plodding through snow in order to deliver the mail, getting thrown off a horse and climbing back on, or having to use non-organic soymilk in their latte. (Soymilk is almost synonymous with grit, am I right? 😉)
We’d be best served with a combination of both qualities. Grit without emotional intelligence implies a person who can be tough and tenacious, but won’t get to fully experience the journey and rewards of whatever they invest their grit into pursuing. As for emotional intelligence without grit, a person may fully understand what they’re feeling but be unable to stand up to their emotions when they threaten to take over, nor to stand up and say what needs to be said in order to clear the air, maintain integrity, and honor their boundaries.
One silver lining of this pandemic is that I've seen more emotionally intelligent grit in people than ever. It takes grit to make do with shortages of food and toilet paper, to find ways to get our kids educated when schools are closed, to figure out how to make ends meet when our jobs and businesses disappear, and to change our behaviors to reduce the spread of a contagious disease. The emotional intelligence aspect is not letting our fear be the driver, instead being guided in all our adaptations by homing in on what's most important. For instance: family, community, service, vibrant health, kindness, and ecology. It
means honoring the choice that mere survival isn’t enough.
This brings us to the crux of emotionally intelligent grit, which is that having a higher purpose is essential. Without it, we adapt without heart. To me, a high purpose always implies an intention that goes beyond personal gain. It inspires the willingness to be uncomfortable as we develop and maintain these muscles, and the world is made better by this sacrifice.
Be well, and not too comfortable,
Peter
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Creative people are among our most celebrated historical figures, yet most of us treat creativity as an entirely optional pastime, especially if we see ourselves as “not a creative person.” We all know that gifted individuals such as Einstein, Kahlo, Mozart, Rowling, Socrates, and Edison, who gave life to their creativity, greatly impacted our culture and development. But oddly, unless we’re oozing talent (and even then) we often we view creative endeavors as too frivolous to warrant the expenditure of energy.
Creativity is one of our most unrecognized and undervalued abilities. Without it, our species would be unremarkable among the animal kingdom. We’d have no tools or clothes, no stories or music, no cooking or language. But because we have creative power we have innovated, and our lives are longer and richer because of it.
By definition, to create is “to bring into existence.” Consciousness flows through us, we shape it, and something Is brought into existence. Whether we’re aware of it or not, this is special. And it’s happening all the time.
Some of the most basic expressions of your creative power are the words you choose to speak and write, the ways you move your body, the work you engage in, how you dress and adorn yourself, the food you make, how you choose to spend your money, the affection you give, the plants you grow, the art you put on your walls, and how you choose to show up in your community.
You are living creativity. You can’t stop it. To be truly aware of this fact is to be empowered and inspired. It can become a spiritual practice. It can become a means of knowing and healing yourself. It can be energizing. It can be fun. It can lift you out of depression and despair. It can give you hope. It can change the world.
I’d love it if you’d reflect on these questions:
- What happens when I own my creative power?
- What changes when I become an active participant in the creating that I’m doing?
- What does it mean to choose my place in the universe as a creator?
- How do I feel when I let myself create?
- Can I tune in to the energy that moves through me and drives my expressions?
- What does it feel like?
- Does this power flow freely or is it impeded in some way?
- What happens when I relax and open myself to it?
Side note: the idea I’m presenting has sometimes been misconstrued by new age thinkers to mean, “You are the sole creator, and everything that happens is because YOU asked for it. So you must have unwittingly brought erectile dysfunction and cankles to the world.” This doesn’t make sense and it’s a recipe for guilt. If you’ve adopted this belief, I encourage you to let it go.
You share the planet with billions of creators, and you’re not in competition with them. However, most aren’t especially mindful of their creative power. Again, when we be become mindful of it, it’s inspiring and empowering. We’re more effective at bringing our chosen intentions into existence. And when our intentions arise from love (rather than fear), we’re more effective still.
The empowering shift I’m suggesting begins simply with mindfulness of the creative power you’re already exercising throughout your life. Gradually you’ll feel less like “life is happening to me” and more like “I’m an active creator in this life.”
Be well,
Peter
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