picture courtesy of pixabay
In my continual work with creativity as an element, one of things I’ve been very sensitive to is the rhythm of creativity in my life, and knowing when to let go of the need to do anything, and instead simply hold space/time in stillness. At one time, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing that, but a three year stint of working with stillness taught me a lot about how to become comfortable with stillness and trust in it, instead of resisting it.
Forced creativity isn’t fun or joyful. It’s like Sisyphus, trying to push the boulder up the hill, only to have boulder push down on him and force him all the way to the bottom. When you try to force creativity, what you get is a block that keeps you from truly tapping into your imagination. I’ve learned this hard way, up until I came to realize that sometimes what you must do is turn inwards and cultivate the creative spark, instead of just expressing it.
Creativity constantly expressed becomes exhausting, because you can’t maintain an indefinite output without feeding your creative spark. Sometimes feeding it is easy. For example, I like to take a couple hours and just read some books, allowing myself to contemplate and consider what those books have to offer me. I also find that a daily spiritual practice does a lot to cultivate the creative spark, because it puts you in touch with your divine imagination.
Other times you may need to do something more extensive. Right now I’m doing a seasonal magical working, where I’m attuning myself to the rhythms of winter and letting those rhythms work through me. I find that as I do this work, its causing me to seek stillness and let my creativity soak in that stillness, without necessarily doing anything with it, until the moment feels right to express something (like this article).
Through the winter work, I’m finding a specific message in the stillness: Patience and perseverance. It seems like an obvious message, but sometimes to hear the obvious message we must still the clamor of our everyday lives and attune instead to stillness, so that we can hear the needed messages that help us find direction and focus, rest and regeneration.
It is useful to sometimes stop and just let go of the need to do anything, so that you can truly connect with your truest self and receive what you need, to carry you on your journey.
