5 Practices to Foster the Creative Spirit~~~
Creativity touches all aspects of our lives: writing or woodworking or drawing, cooking in the kitchen, decorating our homes, planting a garden, nurturing relationships, thinking outside the box to solve a problem, and on it goes. While I did have writers in mind when drafting this article, I realize these practices can nurture our artistry in all areas.
Walk in Nature
Disconnecting from the electrical grid which oscillates at a much higher frequency than our earth bodies is well-known to be good for our health. This may also include grounding or earthing. For creative purposes, taking a nature walk or even a swim can simply ease tension which is a block to creativity. We are naturally creative creatures so merely removing blocks can allow creativity to arise. Add on the health benefits and it’s a win-win situation.
For times when weather or locale preclude spending time outside, a visit to a flower shop or plant store or humane society does the trick for me.
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Make Things and Sing
What do you enjoy? What brings you a smile? Play a little every day. Some days play a lot. We might also add a little Mary Poppins-esque fun to ordinary everyday jobs:
“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and – SNAP – the job’s a game!”
American author on human development Joseph Chilton Pearce who wrote Magical Child, among other works, extols the power of play. I had met him years ago at one of his lectures during which he shared a conversation he had with a child.
“What do you love to do?” Pearce asked.
“Make things and sing,” the child answered.
“Then that’s what you should do!” he exclaimed.
According to Pearce:
“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.”
The next practice emerged from just such a space.
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The Non-Dominant Hand
For creativity to flow, we need to get out of our own way so what if we used our non-dominant hand, the one least connected with our thinking processes? My first book The Sea Slug was surprisingly created in just this way. Additionally, the Slug’s timeless theme of being true to oneself echoes the creative thumbprint that is unique for us all.
It was a bright sunny day quite a few moons ago, I joyfully set up my dining room table with watercolor paints contained in one of those inexpensive plastic palettes. I added a paintbrush, two plastic cups of water, some paper towels for drying, and a pad of paper. I was going to make things and sing.
Since I am right-handed, I used my left hand and did not look directly at what I was doing. I wet the brush, dipped into a color, and blindly put strokes on the paper. After rinsing the brush, I went for another color, all the while not looking directly at the paper, and so on. I was literally playing, not thinking nor having a plan but just being in the energy of fun. I was truly enjoying my watercolors!
Eventually I felt done and stopped to survey my creation. I saw what looked like seaweed and a small creature emerging. “You look like you have a story to tell,” I stated. So I picked up a pen and the creature spoke to me as a sort of automatic writing. The story did not feel complete so I packed it away with my artwork once dry and did not think of it again until months later.
I was in the middle of writing a very different piece when words started reciting in my head. “You sound like the sea slug,” I remarked to no one in particular but myself. I found the folder with my artwork and the unfinished story and it finished itself quickly.
I love this slug, how he was created and how he told his story in verse and the story itself. I love how I was open to play and what emerged from that frequency once I stepped aside and a higher intelligence unfolded.
Of course, watercolor painting is not the only way to open the space for creations to emerge. Play with whatever medium calls to you. Additionally, writing with the nondominant hand can open creative doors as well.
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The Back Burner
Similar to The Sea Slug that sat on the back burner until it was ready for the final ingredients to be added, stepping back from a piece that you have created and revisiting it at a later date can also bring a fresh perspective. Currently I am editing a teaching memoir I drafted last year and the distance of time has shown me where I need to clarify things more fully for the readers. None of this was apparent without the time and space to allow what has bubbled up and come to the surface.
As a writing teacher, I would break tasks down in parts for my students and encourage them to take time away for simmering. Often I would collect drafts and hold them for a day or up to a week when we would get back to what I called cooking with words. I’d wear an apron with pockets and pull out empty spice jars for spicing up their drafts. I loved playing at teaching too!
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Just Write
Long before computers and cell phones, I relied on my journals. Often when I wasn’t thinking directly about anything, an idea or a well-turned phrase would come to me. I’d grab the nearest scrap of paper and write it down. My journals are stuffed with such scraps of paper.
Welcome now to the digital age and all sorts of other tools have been invented. While I still put ideas that arise on bits of paper, I often use my notes or audio recordings on my cell phone to jot down ideas, especially when paper is not at the ready. An awareness of various ways to record creative notions can act as an invitation for those innovative visitors to appear.
Having a habit that sets time aside such as morning pages as described by American teacher and writer Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way is invaluable too. A couple of Cameron quotes follow.
“For most people, creativity is a serious business. They forget the telling phrase ‘the play of ideas’ and think that they need to knuckle down and work more. Often, the reverse is true. They need to play.”
For some of us morning pages may show up as afternoon or evening or Saturday pages but carving out that space sets the creative stage, whether you are a writer or dabble in some other art form.
“Writing [or your own creative art] is a spiritual practice in that people that have no spiritual path can undertake it and, as they write, they begin to wake up to a larger connection. After a while, people tend to find that there is some muse that they are connecting to.”
I have found that muse to be the greater ME that is part of the ALL and this brings me much JOY. I simply love getting lost in the timelessness of creating, just like a child at play. You know you’ve found your jam when time flies and you’re having fun and still you’re getting something done.
Wishing you wonderful jam sessions!
Read also, and with more photos, on Medium.