Matthew Fox, in his book Creativity, says “our true nature is creativity.” He takes a spiritual stance and says, “When the Bible declares that we are made in the ‘image and likeness’ of the Creator, it is affirming that creativity is at our core just as it lies at the core of the Creator of all things.”
He also says, “Not only the Bible but other traditions also celebrate our nearness to the creative powers of Divinity.”
Even if you don’t connect with the sacred, a very strong case can be made that creativity is one of the most powerful and unique gifts of our species, and has helped us evolve to do the spectacular!
The Call and the Resistance
Would you like to live a more creative life? You have something within you that you want to express, but you have self-doubt, believe you can’t fit it into your life, or fear rejection?
Stephen Pressfield, in his book The War of Art, says, “The more important a call or action to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.” He talks about Resistance, with a capital R, as the internal force that keeps you from expressing your best work.
This means taking risks and making mistakes in pursuit of something greater. Failure is a part of this process, which the Resistance will tell you about to keep you from doing your work. It “will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. The Resistance is always lying…” and its favorite form is procrastination.
Be Creative Because it’s What You Want For Yourself
Another tack Resistance takes, in addition to procrastination, is telling you you’re not good enough. In her book Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert says that you don’t need credentials or have anyone else otherwise approve of your abilities to create. You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone else, because art is most powerful when the artist is in tune with themselves. Be creative because it’s what you want for yourself. Your expression is valuable because you’re giving it life.
It’s ok to start whenever you feel like, if you’re a youngster or 90 years old! Give yourself permission. It’s your life begging for your potential. Be brave enough to jump in.
Gilbert cautions that one shouldn’t place the responsibility of making any money on the creative life. It’s just too heavy and extremely difficult and too dangerous a gamble that it will suck the life out of the muse that needs playfulness and light.
But creating things to please yourself can bring power and wonder to your life. Enrich your existence with their pursuit, one step at a time. And over time, with enough focused energy, powered by what you love, you can improve your skills with your art.
The dedication you need to practice your art will build your skills. And practice, even 15 minutes a day, can make a difference. Being in love with artistic ideas that need your expression will light the way, if you take care of the ideas and see them through.
Conclusion
Creativity is sacred, and it is not sacred. What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all. We toil alone and we are accompanied by spirits. We are terrified, and we are brave. Art is a crushing chore, and a wonderful privilege. Only when we are at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us. Make space for all these paradoxes to be equally true inside your soul, and I promise you can make anything. So please, calm down now, and get back to work, ok? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you’ll say “Yes.”
– Elizabeth Gilbert
As Pressfield says, when Resistance rears its head, say, “Not today. Today I will endeavor to be the best version of myself. To show up fully and completely. And if I don’t succeed, it will have been a worthy failure. My work matters, and I must keep at it.”
For me, the magic of art is touching the live power of infinite possibilities. It is touching my humanity. It is touching my Creator. And I rejoice when I can work with other people to do the same. There’s something elemental about mark-making. Ancient cave paintings were some of the first known artistic expressions of mark-making, asserting, “Here I am. I exist.”
I guess I feel this way too, and with daily discipline beating back Resistance, allowing art to flow through me, I seek the hidden possibilities in myself and seek to inspire others to do so also. We seek our true nature!