On the one hand, we all recognize creativity when we see it. It's the ability to derive and/or develop an original idea. However, what really is the nature of creativity? Do we mean those intense bursts of insights or the steady flow of creative expression?
I've always considered myself a "creative" person. It was how I was labeled in childhood, and how I self-identified. As a creative person, I consider creativity to be an innate part of my character. It is inseparable with who I am. However, as we have all seen, "creativeness" isn't necessarily a constant. Sometimes we seem to have a burst of creativity, and sometimes the well seems to run dry. If I am a creative person, how can there be times when I am not?
So is "being creative" an innate personality trait, or an attribute that somehow lies outside of ourselves? Is creativity innate or external?
Where do moments of inspiration fit into our ideas of creativity? Inspiration, by definition, are flashes of intense creative insight that appear to come from outside of ourselves. ("Inspire" comes from the Latin, meaning roughly "breath of Divine") People talk about being inspired by something. We call on the God, Goddess, or the Muse when we need to be inspired. We can be inspired by music, or art, or poetry. Does this mean that the source of our highest creativity somehow lies outside of us?
I can answer with the personal experience gained from my own lifetime journey as a poet and writer. Creativity is both innate and external, in that the source of all creativity is our connection with the Ultimate Source, (God/dess, Universal Life Force, or whatever you want to call it.) In many ways, my pursuit of my creativity as a writer followed my pursuit of Spirituality. My search for God/dess led me to find the source of Divine deep within my self. The Divine Energy is a creative force by its very nature. It is that source of creativity that we all have deep within us, and is inseparable from our Spirits. We are all creative, in that we all participate in the flow of this Divine energy.
So although it may appear that our “creativeness” comes and goes, in reality it is always there. Instead, it is our ability to connect with that source of creativity that varies. If we are really grounded, centered, and aligned with the flow of the universe, then the creative flow of Divine flows effortlessly within us. If we are stressed, distracted, hostile, or otherwise toxic, we lose our ability to remain in a harmonious flow with the Universal Life Force. The taps seem to run dry.
My creativity had been erratic for the six years of my troubled marriage, but then got put on hold entirely for the three years it took for a bitterly fought divorce. The stress was so profound that I even had to take a sabbatical from my ministry, and retreated entirely from almost all expressions of creativity and spirituality. In all aspects of my life, my energy was devoted to just getting through another day. Every once in awhile I’d get a beautiful burst of inspiration that would allow me to express myself, but they were few and far between. However, once the stress of divorce was over, I knew I needed to do something to reconnect me with my spirituality.
I became determined to reconnect with my Goddess and God, and set out to strip away the old, outdated layers of myself that kept me blocked. Two years ago I quit making excuses to myself and finally committed to a daily practice of yoga, meditation and journal writing. My determination to move deeper into connecting with Divine kept my practice focused each day, and gave me the self-discipline to dedicate a bit of time each day to this pursuit. I didn’t do this to become a better writer... I did it to save my soul and learn to like the face I saw in the mirror each day. But not only did I reconnect to God/dess, but the taps of my creativity opened up and began flowing.
At first I thought I’d take advantage of this burst of inspiration that came as I steadied into my new practice, so I followed every creative urge with enthusiasm. It felt so good to be creative and inspired again, after so many years of crippling levels of stress. I poured my heart and soul into each creative urge, and followed it with abandon. For, in my experience, I knew it would go again. Creativity ebbs and flows. Such is the nature of creativity. So I thought.
In the past two years, I’ve redefined this connection to creativity. As I continue my daily practice of nurturing my connection with Divine, this outpouring of “creativity” has become sustained and steady. I can’t recall any other period of my life where I’ve been so consistently productive and creatively inspired.
So I stand up as a living witness to what can happen when you redirect the energy of your life. The time you commit to your own excellent self-care pays off in very direct, personal ways. When you develop a daily spiritual practice, you begin to discover your own creative connections. It spills over into every area of your life. When you are in the flow of the Universal Energy, the energy of your life smooths out, becomes stronger, and more consistent. And it feels good!
We are all creative beings, and the well-spring of creativity is the ultimate source of all Divine energy, however you wish to describe it or conceive of it. The energy of creativity and the energy of Divine springs from the same source, and that source if found within us all.
~Flame RavenHawk
February 9, 2003