Creativity, Everyday Mysticism and the New Age
I spent the weekend at a marvelous creativity workshop offered by my friend, Gwen McCauley. Although I wouldn't consider myself much of a painter, I was amazed by how I saw my deepest thoughts unfolding on the paper in front of me. What seemed to live inside me as nameless hopes and fears, desires and unspoken conversations emerged on paper and canvas in startling ways. It didn't matter that I would approach a new canvas with nothing more than a colour in mind, unsure of what tools and mediums to use, when I simply played, got messy and I was rewarded with a sense of home coming - a deep connection with my inner life.
So often we hold creativity as somehow separate from our day to day lives. We have made it some kind of sacred act that only a chosen few can participate in. In my own experience, I can read and research all that I want but it no substitute for just jumping in and creating. In choosing to let go of my many rules about what makes "good" art, I was thrilled to discover that the whole point of creating is the process - not the product. Once in a while you get rewarded with something special and the rest of the time its just fun. Not a bad deal!
I can see how the threads of this conversation weave their way through other facets of my life. Healing Arts and Healers carry the same mystique, as does religion. What they all seem to have in common is the criteria for expert guidance and interpretation of our experience. (And that's another conversation I intend to pursue!) When did life become so compartmentalized? When did we begin to cut ourselves off from our natural abilities? Imagine just jumping in!
As my thoughts wander into the growing culture of New Age, I wonder about the growing demand for mysticism in modern living. Perhaps those mysteries that we seek are really more about remembering who we are as whole beings. The mystery is reconnecting to our own innate gifts having sifted through all the times we have annexed some critical part of ourselves in the mistaken belief that we somehow didn't measure up. Like in Grade 3 art class when someone else's masterpiece got centre stage on the bulletin board, or when it was suggested that you just mouth the words to the Christmas choir song or when you were encouraged down one path at the expense of the other. There are many opinions and suggestions along our paths that we take on as our own - gosh, who would we become if we were to stop and question them?
New Age philosophy seems to be taking us even farther away from who we are. There are lots of "teachers" and "healers" that in an effort to guide us, take us even further away from ourselves. The process of self discovery becomes an mystical journey, full of new rules, new experts, new beliefs - many of which may not map to what we instinctively know about ourselves.
We simply need to stop, breathe and listen. If you are having difficulty hearing yourself think over the din of competing voices, then let yourself speak through art. Collages, finger paints, crayons, - there are lots of fun things to choose from. Turn your inner 3-year old loose and be prepared to be thoroughly surprised by the wisdom that emerges!
If you are looking for someone to point you in the right direction and who will play alongside you with humor and curiosity, check out www.OUIcoach.com for upcoming creativity programs.
So often we hold creativity as somehow separate from our day to day lives. We have made it some kind of sacred act that only a chosen few can participate in. In my own experience, I can read and research all that I want but it no substitute for just jumping in and creating. In choosing to let go of my many rules about what makes "good" art, I was thrilled to discover that the whole point of creating is the process - not the product. Once in a while you get rewarded with something special and the rest of the time its just fun. Not a bad deal!
I can see how the threads of this conversation weave their way through other facets of my life. Healing Arts and Healers carry the same mystique, as does religion. What they all seem to have in common is the criteria for expert guidance and interpretation of our experience. (And that's another conversation I intend to pursue!) When did life become so compartmentalized? When did we begin to cut ourselves off from our natural abilities? Imagine just jumping in!
As my thoughts wander into the growing culture of New Age, I wonder about the growing demand for mysticism in modern living. Perhaps those mysteries that we seek are really more about remembering who we are as whole beings. The mystery is reconnecting to our own innate gifts having sifted through all the times we have annexed some critical part of ourselves in the mistaken belief that we somehow didn't measure up. Like in Grade 3 art class when someone else's masterpiece got centre stage on the bulletin board, or when it was suggested that you just mouth the words to the Christmas choir song or when you were encouraged down one path at the expense of the other. There are many opinions and suggestions along our paths that we take on as our own - gosh, who would we become if we were to stop and question them?
New Age philosophy seems to be taking us even farther away from who we are. There are lots of "teachers" and "healers" that in an effort to guide us, take us even further away from ourselves. The process of self discovery becomes an mystical journey, full of new rules, new experts, new beliefs - many of which may not map to what we instinctively know about ourselves.
We simply need to stop, breathe and listen. If you are having difficulty hearing yourself think over the din of competing voices, then let yourself speak through art. Collages, finger paints, crayons, - there are lots of fun things to choose from. Turn your inner 3-year old loose and be prepared to be thoroughly surprised by the wisdom that emerges!
If you are looking for someone to point you in the right direction and who will play alongside you with humor and curiosity, check out www.OUIcoach.com for upcoming creativity programs.
posted by A at 8:03 AM
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