Creativity is at the very core of who we are.
We are creative beings. It is at the essence of what life really is about and how life really works - creatively. We
have been socialized and educated, and sometimes traumatized out of our natural creativity so we forget
that we're all creative by the time we become adults.
In the past, some split off totally from their creative core (and think they are not creative), others relegated it onto the sidelines to do for fun after the "real work" was done, while others stayed connected, often feeling misunderstood. We've been a society of creativity witnesses more than creativity engagers. Thankfully, that's been shifting over the past few years as more people (and organizations) are tapping into and valuing their creative natures, but many still live and work from "old school" limiting assumptions around what creativity is and who is creative.
Reconnecting with our essential
creative
nature leads to an all-around more vibrant life...because it is how we are naturally
designed! Just observe kids discovering, playing, exploring and
creating before they were socialized or labeled or "corrected" out of it. Our creative core is so much bigger that our training or beliefs...and is accessible to anyone at anytime.
When
we create (and reduce our self judgment), we feel more alive, enthusiastic and
connected to the flow of life. The more access we have to our creativity, the
more connections we make, and the more opportunities we cultivate. Stress reduces automatically as we access our creative aliveness - that which gives us "juice"! It is fully alive.
When accessing our
creativity we’re happier and more joyful. The brain unleashes endorphins
and we feel better. Working with creativity generally leads to a more engaged, juicy living. And we buy into what we create - it has meaning. Living an expressed creative life contains the
balance between structure and flow, action and reflection, activity and
renewal, the mind and the body. Creativity contains the dynamic tension of seeming opposites - sometimes working harmoniously through us, sometimes in struggle. The creative core needs us to engage it…explore,
experiment, cultivate, be present and listen deeply.
We all were influenced by certain assumptions growing up. Whether they came from parents, teachers, colleagues, institutions, fears, shoulds, societal norms of "how business is done," etc., we could not escape them. But we can question them, challenge them, engage them, play with them, and test for ourselves which ones really work for us.
We can go beneath the assumptions into our creative core to discover what really brings us to life. We can then choose consciously which ones we keep, which ones we release, which ones we transform, and be present to what other, newer ones want to emerge to help us discover or create more generative ways of thinking, living and creating. The creative wellspring underneath our assumptions is infinite and generous - always giving if we get into the space to receive.
When we venture underneath that which we have accepted - our inhibiting assumptions about ourselves and the "correct" ways we "should" think, work, or use our time - that are not at our creative core, we can re-access our creatively unique flow. We can then really live our aliveness - our creative "juice" - out in the world.
It takes time, attention and intention. It requires giving ourselves space to listen into that inner voice and cultivate out it's creative riches (whether artistically talented or not.). It takes protecting the voice as it is emerging from our own inner judgments or the evaluations of others as it is unfolding. Sometimes we need to protect our creative voice as it emerges...it can be vulnerable and shaky when first coming to the surface - messy, untamed, and often not understandable or relate-able at first against our current context. In other words, easy to judge or negate.
Beyond our own juicy aliveness, reclaiming our creative core is essential for the world we live in. As
we collectively expand our notions of what creativity means and how it
can be expressed, exponential potential is activated...new insights
emerge, new connections are made, and more generative structures and
systems can be created. Enlivened, we can contribute from a place of our uniquely inspired purpose.
Our world can more positively change because we come from more
life-giving assumptions, not outdated, constricted, fear-based ones. And that begins with each of us...individually.
The awesome thing about the creative source is that, like water over rocks, it cannot be stopped. The creative life energy is stronger, and becomes more so as we value it and engage it. We have nature on our side!
~ Michelle James 2013
