Creativity is an aspect of the spirit, the free flow of (divine?) energy through the Self/self. Creative impulse is dependent upon the senses to manifest.
Our visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, gustatory and olfactory 'receptors' or senses, are the conduit from which creativity flows through and from. Our sixth sense, proprioception (the general sensation of our bodies, including intuition), is also a receptor to creative expression.
“If you do not answer the noise and urgency of your gifts, they will turn on you, or drag you down with their immense sadness at being abandoned.”-- Joy Harjo, Crazy Brave
Wellness is deeply related to the contact we have or don't have to our innate creativity. In a way, our relationship to our creativity-- the essential 'juice' in our life, is how we know ourselves. It's our Home. Satisfaction, Pleasure, Wonder, deep Feeling all live there; the place where meaning resides and where we long to be. If we are cut off from this, we are cut off from ourselves and our health will be negatively and profoundly impacted.
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” ― Eric Fromm
Wellness is deeply related to the contact we have or don't have to our innate creativity. In a way, our relationship to our creativity-- the essential 'juice' in our life, is how we know ourselves. It's our Home. Satisfaction, Pleasure, Wonder, deep Feeling all live there; the place where meaning resides and where we long to be. If we are cut off from this, we are cut off from ourselves and our health will be negatively and profoundly impacted.
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” ― Eric Fromm
Being related to one's creative spirit is to be engaged in some measure to joy, curiosity or wonder. Hence, in this relationship, many of the body's relaxation markers are usually in full effect, countering normal stress. It is most often fun, enjoyable and deeply pleasing to one's being to be in the creative. Even when problem solving, or weighing creative responses to a 'call' of the imagination, the sifting and dissemination of one's creative impressions are both interesting and relaxing, even though there might be considerable stimulation.
There is no downside to exploring and participating in one's creativity. And, there are a myriad of reasons why it is damaging not to do so. Mostly, one cannot really know oneself, one's purpose without opening to the wild-woolly, quietly-sublime spirit that lies within. And not fully knowing, or frequently experiencing that in one's unique journey in a lifetime-- well, it's just not good for you.
“We tried to make something much more holistic and simple. When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions.”
-- Steve Jobs
Creativity takes many forms through life's continuum. Watching small children exploring their creativity is like experiencing the force of an open fire hydrant. They gush forth energetically; their stream of imagination, powerfully raw. There is no holds barred, no clamping down or editing themselves, no self-consciousness. They ride the tumultuous rapids known as their flow, ecstatic in the wild ride. As we age, creativity becomes more nuanced and sublime. With maturity comes an ability to listen more deeply and globally. We have a more seasoned willingness to step back and watch the force unfold, rather than ride the rapids of the creative known in an earlier period. It tends to be a slower, measured and richer experience after 40 as opposed to the intense, tumultuous experience of a younger person. We trust the process. As Jobs says above, a [mature] person has the patience and experience to keep peeling the layers away, staying with the question, problem, participating in crafting the experience in the process. It's a different type of transformation.
Transformation is the by-product of being in the creative state. Whether it be breathing through the development of a mathematical equation for those so inclined, or following the body's impulses in a movement exploration be it sport or art, the creative spirit strikes Home differently in all types, indeed all human beings.
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.” ― Martha Graham
What makes for a state of wellness is complex. But inextricably linked to it is the health of the spirit. The health of the spirit is founded in the creative. The first few words of Graham's statement above are also familiar words used to describe wellness: vitality, life force, energy. If you possess these qualities, you are considered robustly healthy. Spirit illnesses, like addiction, chronic anxiety or misery, grief or depression are serious states of dis-ease that leave our creative reservoirs and health coffers empty. It is as if a firm lid is on the wealth of our interior riches, our vitality and life force, as Graham puts it. Those who suffer this, suffer illness; a loss of essential capacity, a compromised refuge to the Self.
Creativity and Wellness are essential operating elements to being a Whole person. They are inextricably linked and pay service to the other. As a culture, we must start seeing and nourishing this relationship, instead of denying its importance. This relationship is not negligible; our health and wellness depend upon it.
“We tried to make something much more holistic and simple. When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions.”
-- Steve Jobs
Creativity takes many forms through life's continuum. Watching small children exploring their creativity is like experiencing the force of an open fire hydrant. They gush forth energetically; their stream of imagination, powerfully raw. There is no holds barred, no clamping down or editing themselves, no self-consciousness. They ride the tumultuous rapids known as their flow, ecstatic in the wild ride. As we age, creativity becomes more nuanced and sublime. With maturity comes an ability to listen more deeply and globally. We have a more seasoned willingness to step back and watch the force unfold, rather than ride the rapids of the creative known in an earlier period. It tends to be a slower, measured and richer experience after 40 as opposed to the intense, tumultuous experience of a younger person. We trust the process. As Jobs says above, a [mature] person has the patience and experience to keep peeling the layers away, staying with the question, problem, participating in crafting the experience in the process. It's a different type of transformation.
Transformation is the by-product of being in the creative state. Whether it be breathing through the development of a mathematical equation for those so inclined, or following the body's impulses in a movement exploration be it sport or art, the creative spirit strikes Home differently in all types, indeed all human beings.
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.” ― Martha Graham
What makes for a state of wellness is complex. But inextricably linked to it is the health of the spirit. The health of the spirit is founded in the creative. The first few words of Graham's statement above are also familiar words used to describe wellness: vitality, life force, energy. If you possess these qualities, you are considered robustly healthy. Spirit illnesses, like addiction, chronic anxiety or misery, grief or depression are serious states of dis-ease that leave our creative reservoirs and health coffers empty. It is as if a firm lid is on the wealth of our interior riches, our vitality and life force, as Graham puts it. Those who suffer this, suffer illness; a loss of essential capacity, a compromised refuge to the Self.
Creativity and Wellness are essential operating elements to being a Whole person. They are inextricably linked and pay service to the other. As a culture, we must start seeing and nourishing this relationship, instead of denying its importance. This relationship is not negligible; our health and wellness depend upon it.
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