Cultivating Creativity

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We all have creativity. Although not all of us are painters or sculptors, we do have the option to creating our days, dealing with dilemmas in innovative ways, writing silly poems, or thinking creatively about how to celebrate something.

Creativity can be cultivated. The beginning of my “creative recovery” is directly tied to the book The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. I first discovered this book about 20 years ago and have gone through it several times since, twice with groups doing it together. Julia Cameron contends that

“Creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy: pure creative energy.”
~ Julia Cameron

I continue to be in awe of her genius in gently helping our creativity re-awaken. I want to share her 2 basic tools: “Morning Pages” and the “Artist Date”.

Morning pages: First thing every morning write (in longhand) 3 pages of stream of consciousness. There is no wrong way to do this. It is not art nor is it even writing: it is a “clearing of the pipes” so to speak. One of the best ways for me to do it is “free fall”, putting the pen to the paper and writing until the 3 pages are done (sometimes with a timer). That way I really tap into my stream of consciousness.

Julia Cameron believes the morning pages help us get to the other side of the critic voice.
“The morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery. Often they are negative or self-pitying, bland or stilted. As blocked artists we tend to criticize ourselves mercilessly.” It is an opportunity to observe our interior monologue and to know the critic voice is not truth. Mine often devolve into thinking about what I have to do that day.

For those of us who are dominated by our left brain (logic, linguistic, linear), this creates a space for the feeling and imagery side of our brain to ‘have a voice” I, as well as several people I know, have found at some point during morning pages, a poem or little piece of creative writing flow out of them.

Artist Date: This is a practice I have gotten a failing grade at. It is a block of time (perhaps 2 hours) each week committed to nurturing your creative consciousness. “In its most primary form, the artist date is an excursion, a play date that you pre-plan and defend against all interlopers.” This is a solitary activity. Cameron contends you cannot afford not to give yourself this time. Basically it is a date with your inner artist, to be taken out and pampered.

What delights you? Fills you up? What is fun to play with?

• Visiting garage sales
• Walking along the shore or in the woods
• Watching a movie alone
• Taking a photo-walk
• Collaging
• Sketching (even though I am not an artist)

Commit to this and then watch your “serious” self try to break the date.

We each have creativity. We all started that way, but many of us have forgotten. The path to reclaiming my inner creative self is a journey of rediscovering the delight of seeing the world with new eyes, seeing choices I never knew were there.

How might I live my days a little more creatively?

“During periods of relaxation after concentrated intellectual activity, the intuitive mind sees to take over and produce the sudden clarifying insights which give us so much joy and delight.” ~Fritjof Capra, physicist