My two watchwords for the year have been connection and creativity. As the summer solstice draws near, I'd like to reflect on each in turn. Today: a meditation on creativity.
Creativity includes the ideas of invention, production, new connections, and art. Wisdom, eclecticism, energy, and the divine are other key concepts associated with creativity. The word "creative" conjures images of the mad scientist with unruly hair, unkempt office, and exotic lab equipment holding bubbling flasks of colorful liquid. Or perhaps the eccentric artist in a studio apartment surrounded by vivid paintings, grotesque sculptures, and reams of handwritten journals. In both of these pictures, color and variety are key components. And indeed, without color, creativity would be stifled.
Our visual cortex occupies an inordinate amount of neurologic real estate. Humans may not be so hot at accurate recall, mathematical computation, or logical decision-making, but we still maintain quite an edge on the computers in the arena of visual processing-- as well as emotional processing, which I will touch on in my reflection on connection. With proper attention, we pick up on the tiniest subtleties of color, shape, texture, line, space, contrast, and form. And we think and communicate even the most abstract ideas in visual terms-- lines of thinking, ideas that get colored or distorted by other opinions, shady thoughts and actions. My point here is that creativity is first of all a visual act. God seems to agree, as his first creative act was to speak Light into existence.
Which brings me to my next point-- the divine nature of the creative act. Though God is conceived in different ways across religions and cultures, one attribute that ties most conceptions of God together is creativity. Though I tend to think of God as a Sustainer most of the time, there would obviously be nothing to sustain without God's original creative act, and in God's sustaining act there is a kind of creation. As the female is the creator and sustainer of early life, these attributes can be highlighted in a different way by considering God in female terms, as the divine holds all feminine and masculine qualities within Itself. This is not changing God into a New Age hippie goddess, but rather pursuing knowledge of the full richness of the divine character. Yet creation is a very masculine act as well, as I can attest to an innate drive to make beautiful, useful, and lasting things in my life-- like this blog post, hopefully! Think of the most beautiful and inspiring structures you know of; I guarantee they were built by men, though perhaps with input from women. It's what we do.
Whatever the gender or arena, a common thread that runs through creative people is connected knowledge in a variety of domains. Though usually especially skilled in one area, the generalist is the best creative. It is only through years of steadily building knowledge block by block that one can evolve into a truly creative individual. Creatives are almost always avid readers, and nowadays podcasts, audiobooks, Youtube, and other media can supplement the venerable book as avenues to greater creativity. Yet without the curiosity to drive this continual quest for knowledge which leads to wisdom, the nodes for new connections simply will not come into existence.
The energy to produce is another key component of creativity. One's vital force must not be dissipated by distraction, abject poverty, stress, or vice. Though we all have bills to pay, day-to-day stressors, human frailties, and relationships to maintain, we must have the space in our life to empty ourselves of the burdens of life in order to be filled with the divine spark. Just this morning, my meditation consistent mostly of deep breathing interspersed with offloading the to-do items that popped into my mind onto my phone's to-do list. At the end of the session, I had enough head-space to be able to sit down and focus on this post-- after turning my phone off! This emptying and concurrent filling energizes the creative individual for her task.
Where can creativity go wrong? It gets topsy-turvy if not checked by the processes of maintenance and destruction. Though creativity need not be a zero-sum game, we all only have so many physical and mental resources to draw upon, and every pursuit requires a corresponding sacrifice. If not cooled and balanced by connection with others, nature, and the divine, creativity risks crashing and burning, whether through mental illness, criminal behavior, and/or suicide. Creativity, strictly understood, must have its limits.
Yet in a larger sense, all of life is a creative act. The key is to increasingly maintain a mindfulness of this fact, and thereby intentionally create beautiful things with each day and each act. Gratitude, love, generosity, curiosity, patience, kindness, laughter, softness, presence, power, and warmth all flow from the same source as creativity-- the divine spark. Make space for and feed this spark, fan it into flame, and you will light--and color-- the world.
Creativity includes the ideas of invention, production, new connections, and art. Wisdom, eclecticism, energy, and the divine are other key concepts associated with creativity. The word "creative" conjures images of the mad scientist with unruly hair, unkempt office, and exotic lab equipment holding bubbling flasks of colorful liquid. Or perhaps the eccentric artist in a studio apartment surrounded by vivid paintings, grotesque sculptures, and reams of handwritten journals. In both of these pictures, color and variety are key components. And indeed, without color, creativity would be stifled.
Our visual cortex occupies an inordinate amount of neurologic real estate. Humans may not be so hot at accurate recall, mathematical computation, or logical decision-making, but we still maintain quite an edge on the computers in the arena of visual processing-- as well as emotional processing, which I will touch on in my reflection on connection. With proper attention, we pick up on the tiniest subtleties of color, shape, texture, line, space, contrast, and form. And we think and communicate even the most abstract ideas in visual terms-- lines of thinking, ideas that get colored or distorted by other opinions, shady thoughts and actions. My point here is that creativity is first of all a visual act. God seems to agree, as his first creative act was to speak Light into existence.
Which brings me to my next point-- the divine nature of the creative act. Though God is conceived in different ways across religions and cultures, one attribute that ties most conceptions of God together is creativity. Though I tend to think of God as a Sustainer most of the time, there would obviously be nothing to sustain without God's original creative act, and in God's sustaining act there is a kind of creation. As the female is the creator and sustainer of early life, these attributes can be highlighted in a different way by considering God in female terms, as the divine holds all feminine and masculine qualities within Itself. This is not changing God into a New Age hippie goddess, but rather pursuing knowledge of the full richness of the divine character. Yet creation is a very masculine act as well, as I can attest to an innate drive to make beautiful, useful, and lasting things in my life-- like this blog post, hopefully! Think of the most beautiful and inspiring structures you know of; I guarantee they were built by men, though perhaps with input from women. It's what we do.
Whatever the gender or arena, a common thread that runs through creative people is connected knowledge in a variety of domains. Though usually especially skilled in one area, the generalist is the best creative. It is only through years of steadily building knowledge block by block that one can evolve into a truly creative individual. Creatives are almost always avid readers, and nowadays podcasts, audiobooks, Youtube, and other media can supplement the venerable book as avenues to greater creativity. Yet without the curiosity to drive this continual quest for knowledge which leads to wisdom, the nodes for new connections simply will not come into existence.
The energy to produce is another key component of creativity. One's vital force must not be dissipated by distraction, abject poverty, stress, or vice. Though we all have bills to pay, day-to-day stressors, human frailties, and relationships to maintain, we must have the space in our life to empty ourselves of the burdens of life in order to be filled with the divine spark. Just this morning, my meditation consistent mostly of deep breathing interspersed with offloading the to-do items that popped into my mind onto my phone's to-do list. At the end of the session, I had enough head-space to be able to sit down and focus on this post-- after turning my phone off! This emptying and concurrent filling energizes the creative individual for her task.
Where can creativity go wrong? It gets topsy-turvy if not checked by the processes of maintenance and destruction. Though creativity need not be a zero-sum game, we all only have so many physical and mental resources to draw upon, and every pursuit requires a corresponding sacrifice. If not cooled and balanced by connection with others, nature, and the divine, creativity risks crashing and burning, whether through mental illness, criminal behavior, and/or suicide. Creativity, strictly understood, must have its limits.
Yet in a larger sense, all of life is a creative act. The key is to increasingly maintain a mindfulness of this fact, and thereby intentionally create beautiful things with each day and each act. Gratitude, love, generosity, curiosity, patience, kindness, laughter, softness, presence, power, and warmth all flow from the same source as creativity-- the divine spark. Make space for and feed this spark, fan it into flame, and you will light--and color-- the world.
