Creativity as a Spiritual Practice
Do you dream of being more creative? To me, there is no sadder phrase than “I’m just not creative.” We all have different gifts. While some of us may be artists, musicians, writers or whatever fits the traditional definition of a creative person, we are all creators. All of us. Let that sink in a moment. Not just “specially gifted people” but all of us. No matter how we express ourselves, be it in our art, our homes and gardens, our work or our wardrobe, we are all creators.
Creativity is one of the cornerstones of spirituality. One of my favorite names for God is the Native American “Great Creator.” They knew that creation was a gift given to us, and to express our gratitude was to gift it back – by creating. The Great Creator, God, or whatever title you wish to use, loves us to express our creativity. It is our God-given right to be creative. It is this mystical union I have explored for decades now. I know that when I write from my heart, my words are often divinely guided. And I get into that same spiritually creative zone when I’m chopping vegetables for soup. As we create, we move closer to our divinity. And when we don’t, we are left wanting. For me, times of creative drought are also times of spiritual disconnectedness. I become restless until I begin again.
How do you define creativity? I know some gifted painters, musicians and writers. I also know people who have created beautiful homes, well-adapted children and amazing spreadsheets. Are you someone who doesn’t believe yourself to be creative because you do not paint masterpieces or are a virtuoso pianist? Let’s rethink this.
Honor your creative gifts! Do you possess mad problem-solving skills? That’s creativity. Can you host a dinner party on the fly? Does your wardrobe express your classy style? Do you have a green thumb? Or perhaps you have the ability to tell a great joke? That’s a gift! Can you sing a lullaby to help your baby to sleep? Maybe you bake a delicious and beautiful birthday cake? See where I’m going here? You do not need to hold a paintbrush, or even sing on key, to hold creative gifts. Look a little deeper at yours, and you will see that you are indeed highly creative.
Never compare your gifts to another’s. Oftentimes we do not honor our own creative gifts because we compare ours to others we feel we come up short and are left wanting. Comparisons seemingly make our own creative efforts invalid. “I’ll never be able to cook like mom.” Or, “I can’t draw like you do, so I could never paint.” Your creative gift is your gift, and theirs is theirs, and there is of plenty of creative energy for all.
Envy is a good indicator that your creative energy is blocked and needs your attention. Are you jealous of someone else’s talents? If so, take a hard look at where you are not expressing yourself. If you can be brutally honest, you will see that what they do is frankly irrelevant to you and your creativity, even if they are doing exactly what you wish to be doing. Regardless of what anyone else has done, you will always be able to imprint your own personality stamp on all that you create, so long as you are expressing yourself fully and authentically. Use envy to fuel your own platform of expression.
What story do you carry about your creativity? My story was that I was not one of the artists of my family – like my father and brother. Their gifts were different from mine, and yes, more traditionally artistic than mine, but their gifts did not negate mine. It took me years to realize that truth. Many of us have untapped creative depths, more than we consciously realize, that we never venture to explore because of our story.
Many of us have squandered our creative gifts by disproportionately investing in the lives, hopes, dreams, expectations and stories of others, leaving us creatively bankrupt. When we let others define us creatively, we will always fall short.
Or we lie to ourselves, believing we need more time, money or talent to be creative. We dream big but never quite seem to get it together, so we quit before we try.
All of these stories are simply that, stories. We carry these damaging beliefs about creativity long after their expiration period. When we believe stories that are not true, even if they were once true but are no longer true, these stories cripple us, creatively. And I’ll venture to say, they also cripple us spiritually as we deny our ability to use the gifts we were given.
What can you do to increase your creative self-expression?
1) Face your fear and shame about expressing yourself fully. We are often terrified of not being any good, that we lack talent, or are ashamed to be a beginner at something at our age. Or even worse, we expose ourselves to others for who we truly are. Oh really? Tell yourself, “Who cares!” and do it anyway. Fear is such a wasted energy.
2) Watch your words. We are always creating our experience through our thoughts, words and deep-seeded beliefs. Whatever we are creating initially starts with our thoughts and words, positive or negative, so choose wisely.
3) Strengthen your self-confidence. Explore ideas that intrigue you with baby steps. Do not expose your new-found creativity to public opinion. You do not need to go public with your self-expression overnight, or in fact ever. Some art is truly personal and no one else’s business.
4) Excavate childhood activities that brought you joy. You were born with your innate creative gifts and childhood was the carefree environment in which to explore them because they were expressed as play. Did you sing to your stuffed animals? Did you like to color with every crayon in the box? Perhaps you set the stage with dress-up and an imaginative script only you could follow. Play is the operative word here. Revisit those days of play with adult eyes while keeping the childlike sense of wonder, and fun. “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he has grown up.” – Pablo Picasso
5) Till the fertile soil and prepare space for creativity. Honor the gifts that make you, YOU! And make space for them in your life. When you find or reconnect with a creative outlet that resonates completely down to your soul, give it room to grow. Nurture and support it by saying no to things that hog your time and energy but do nothing to spark your creativity.
6) Try something new! If you don’t try, how will you know? Give yourself full permission to become a beginner. Most importantly of all, have fun! “Creativity is intelligence having fun!” – Albert Einstein
Being creative allows us to go with the flow. When you lose all perspective of time and place, you are in creative flow. Meditation often gets us to the same place, but so does creating, and the activity allows our minds to wander into new territory and possibilities while our hands are busy elsewhere. It is in this space that we easily connect with our higher wisdom and guidance, and great ideas are born!
Can you see the connection between The Great Creator and what you are or are not creating? Whether you believe in God, Spirit, a Higher Power or none of the above, creativity is always a spiritual practice. Sometimes the journey is an abundance of creative juices flowing left and right, but other times feels more like a barren wasteland of uninspired ideas. We simply must circle back and begin again, with trust and faith – in ourselves and the Great Creator to create anew. Such is life. And after all, it is our birthright to create. Let’s declare it, claim and own it as the great creators we all are.
