 Practicing creativity is a deep wish to grow. Creativity at its very core is creation, which is energy. We all want growth, so why should we not turn to creation and creativity? Growth consists of allowing the meditation practice to flow off of the cushion and creativity is a tool to get you there. It creates pure harmony between outer and inner worlds because it is a huge surrender and mindfulness practice. In the same way that meditation rolls off our cushion and into our reality, the same is true for art. Colors spill off the canvas and into the world. Words and stories live beyond the paper. The camera lens has no boundaries. The voice vibrates with every spoken word. And the body continues to flow outside of the studio. Practicing art is practicing for a life of mindfulness as well as meditation. This regular practice of art becomes the artist’s daily reality merging inner and outer worlds. When a friend spoke about feeling tension while drumming, he realized that he needed to come back when he was more relaxed. I suspect that he also knows when he is holding tension and not flowing in his life or on the cushion. When another friend spoke about playing kirtan and loosing themselves in the chant, I am guessing that they also know how to release their body during meditation. The pathway has already been created. Photo by Heather Gray  For me, I didn’t realize until yoga teacher training that by dancing, I was meditating. When I was performing, I could be on the stage fully present, lights shining, audience in front of me, and expand beyond anything I thought was possible at the time. I became something other than, and also more than, my body. The energy was all around and I could play with the flow within myself because I did not have to think, my body just knew what to do. We could be so intertwined that we could read subtle movements while improvising, and move in unison. Or we could dance so closely together and never touch, holding space. When I was transitioning out of performing, I would close my eyes on the cushion and see myself dancing in my head. When I asked my teacher what to do he said to stay with the feeling, and remove the form. The feeling is expansion, connectedness. For me, as my energy grew bigger it was a sense of losing myself to find myself. For the one who observes that there is no difference between the universe and its creator, the creator having become the universe and universe having become the creator, this universe is not defective, but a playful amusement. - Spanda Karika 2.5 The artist becomes the universe and the universe becomes the artist. I believe this is true for most great artists. A person can watch a musician and visually see the transition when the person becomes their music. A vocalist is using their breath which connects to the life force and energy of breath. A visual artist and writer gives life to a portion of themselves on paper. There is a thin veil between flow and reality. At this point in my journey, I think it is because the flow of energy exists in everything. The artist has learned how to participate with the creative potential energy, or creation. Using our skills of creativity, we can set up our experience for meditation also. Because of the wish to grow we can use the same amount of focus needed to draw. We can create our mantra by molding the vibration of the deity. With the same amount of focus as a dancer would have on the body, we can bring ourselves into the sensation of chakras. With the focus of a musician, we can become the instrument itself, the container for something bigger to move through. I practiced this morning, while walking, with my mind heavily congested. It kept spinning and although I turned to mantra, it didn’t seem to touch it. So, I “created” the mantra. I molded it with my tongue and mouth. I felt the sensations, the vibrations, but mostly I used the focus of making something. I was making a new reality for myself. And as I walked forward, I stepped through the mantra, and let it wash over me. It was a magical moment that left my mind in my heart and the mantra in rhythm with my feet. Because I wanted to grow beyond the current moment, the wish to grow gave me the focus to burn it up and surrender. Spiritual growth with creativity is about the experience, not a product. When art has no final product, it becomes alive anywhere, anytime, everywhere. Perfection no longer exists because that would mean a finish line. Instead, we become present and alive with the process. If you want access to more creative potential, or shakti, you have to get rid of some of the baggage that you are carrying. We have very concrete ideas about things, we define ideas about who and what we are, how we should be, and how the rest of the world should be. It is important to gain some perspective from a point which is beyond those things that you cling to. -Sri Shambhavananda When we surrender our own expectations of a situation, we can better navigate our arena. By letting go of what we think “should happen” or what “needs to happen,” instead we find the “what could happen,” and what is possible. This creative potential for something different opens up a different part of us. In these past few months, I have been free writing, morning pages, every day, as directed in The Artist's Way. I would consistently write I need to do this; I should do that. As a mom with many responsibilities, I felt that in order to be a good mom I needed to teach this thing, or make sure they are doing that. As a yogi along the path, I would think to myself, “I should be doing this.” “I need to make time to practice that.” “Gosh I really should be more disciplined.” As I wrote these things, I realized how limiting and contracted this thought structure can be. I wanted more life, less anxiety, more flow, and truly more self compassion. To create a different experience of life, I removed the words “need” and “should” from my writing and language. It still comes up in my head but because I have a deep wish to grow, I stop it, and create something different in my reality. Siva Sutra 3.17 – svamatranirmanamapadayati – Experiencing that this objective world is the product of their subjective consciousness, they can create anything desired. To create a different experience, you embrace change. You could get from point A to point B as you always do, quickly and productively. Or you could zig zag, skip, hop, somersault, cartwheel, walk backwards, or even roller skate to point B. The second option takes more time, but it also invites creation energy, shakti. By creatively making it your own, you have broken your mold, your pattern. You venture into a new pathway of life which is fully present. By switching up the pattern on the outside world, the inside world switches up. While it is true that a specific skill set becomes a grand experience of life, creativity is nothing extreme. It is your everyday life. It is your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions. With the focus of wishing to grow, searching out creativity, or practicing artistic pursuits, you can prepare for meditation. It is sometimes hard to tell where the art ends and where the rest of the world begins.  |