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The Cycles of Creativity
A Guide for Inner Healing and Growth
by Emily Hanlon |
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We are creative beings. We live in a creative universe.
Creativity surrounds us, and is in us
– in all of
us, not just the gifted few. Although at its core,
creativity is a mystery, the creative
process is
knowable, and we can use it as a template for living a
more fulfilling, aware, meaningful life. If allowed, the
cycles of creativity become the enduring flow of our
lives, bringing with them the freedom to live life
sourced from our passions instead of our fears –
from our life’s true purpose rather than from our ego’s
vision of security and prosperity.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS, HOW IT WORKS AND SUPPORTS YOUR
GROWTH
Creativity rises up from the unconscious, moves toward
definition, and finds completion in the outer world.
This movement is never static and, in the early stages,
it passes through enormous chaos. In fact, the early
phases of the process are sometimes called “the great
chaos”, or “the seething sea of the unconscious”. But
chaotic as it is, this is the fertile ground that gives
rise to our dreams; it is the place of gestation.
Governed by mystery and intuition, possibility abounds!
Some people are at home in this chaos, but for most people
the endless possibilities, the dreamlike images and
churning fertility pose a huge challenge–if not an
outright nightmare! This is not surprising, considering
that as a culture, we have all but forgotten the
mysterious, transformative power of the inner world; we
focus, to our detriment, on doing, on outcomes on
outer-world success. But this is antithetical to the
creative process that assigns the first move to the
unconscious. If you are someone who is not at home in
the chaos, take heart: as surely as spring follows
winter, order in the form of evaluation, critical
thinking and expertise will follow the chaos.
THE SPARK OF INSPIRATION
The initial spark of inspiration is creativity’s calling
card. It can be an idea for a poem, sculpture, dance or
concerto, a new garden, business or invention, a
Halloween costume, a party or a gift; it can be a vision
of you in a new relationship to others and to Self. Inspiration
is non-verbal; it is the life-enhancing “Wow!” moment
when the vision of what can be –of who you can
be – carries you into unchartered territory and the land
of possibility.
The land of possibility is the womb of creativity; it is
here that you swim on the sea of the unconscious; your
spark of inspiration is thrust about by the surging
waves of the chaos. This land is not unknown to you. In
fact, you visit it every night in your dreams. What
sometimes makes it a nightmare is that your mind cannot
make sense of this non-verbal world. Which is why mind –
with its language, thought and need to analyze – should
not be allowed entry into the early stages of the
creative process. The mind is also home of the ego,
that busy-body who will surely bully his way in and put
your spark of creativity under the microscope of
judgment! Now, you feel confused. The image that made
glorious sense a minute ago feels muddy, vague and
stupid – just another one of your dumb ideas. Out it
goes!
GESTATION
That is why inspiration needs time to
gestate unfettered in the unconscious, in the place of
mystery, where there is only possibility, not
definition. Stillness, patience, passion and risk are
all part of the journey through this inner landscape.
Here chaos finds form in its own time and at its own
pace. If an idea doesn’t work, it floats away of its own
accord; the unconscious sends up another idea, possibly
close to the first, possibly its polar opposite. We see
this happen all the time in nature; and you don’t hear
nature giving up in despair. Imagine a plant saying,
“Woe is me, my new shoots died. I should have known the
sun was going to be too hot today. Why can’t I ever do
anything right?” Nature in her wisdom simply lets go,
sows more seeds, puts out new roots and the cycle begins
again.
-
After an
experiment failed for the ninety-ninth time, Thomas
Edison said, “Now I know at least ninety-nine ways
it wouldn’t work.”
-
Babe Ruth
struck out 1,330 times, but he hit 714 home runs.
-
You fell, a
lot, when you first tried to walk, bike, skate, ski.
There is no such thing as
failure in creativity. Not all possibilities pan
out, but at every turn, something new is uncovered;
every path followed leads to the next. Learning to
welcome “failure” as a gift is a sign that you are
swimming in the womb of creativity! If allowed to
gestate, your creative efforts will give
birth; and the outcome will rarely be the one you
expected!
THE BIRTH
The period following gestation is the appropriate time
for the mind to get to work. Now you
think, you organize, you focus on getting the project
finished and looking good! It is a busy time, filled
with its own energy. And it feels good. You are so productive.
The good old mind is clicking away. At the end of the
day, you think, “Ah, what a productive day I had! My
creative juices were really flowing!”
The rational mind likes to take credit for being the
creative genius; but as incredible and invaluable a
machine as the mind is, its gears are driven by the work
done during the periods of inspiration and gestation.
The mind’s predominance comes at the end of the
process. And because most people don’t realize that
they’re laying
the foundation during
their time floating around in the unconscious, and
during their time spent ever so slowly gathering
together the exact parts needed to bring the new
creation to birth, they value the third stage far more
than the first two.
WHEN THE MIND BECOMES THE CLOG
Pure mind itself is not the cause of the creative
process going awry. Pure mind works in synchronization
with the creative process. The real problem lays the ego,
who is a tenant in the mind. The ego is outward focused.
Its interests are security and success, which means
getting what it wants. Ego is terrified of the seething
sea of the unconscious. If you bring in the mind with
its ego needs and its linear needs too soon into the
creative process, you will kill your newly conceived
ideas. This is akin to taking the baby out of the womb
to make sure it’s turning out the way you want, or to
the anxious farmer who goes out on a nice spring morning
and tugs at the seedlings.
Sound ridiculous? Well, it is, but this is what happens
when the mind with its drive toward definition and its
predilection for judgment prematurely gets a foothold in
your creative explorations. Instead of bathing in the
limitless possibilities of the sea of the unconscious,
you feel out of control, inspiration vanishes, and
criticisms begin: “I can’t make sense of this. It will
never amount to anything. I will
never amount to anything. I was stupid to even come up
with this idea...”
Thoughts such as these (and worse) come from the ego,
and once they begin, one of two things happens:
-
You believe the
ego’s lies, give up and walk away from your as yet
unborn creations.
-
You recognize
that the attack is a lie; a fear tactic well-honed
by the ego to keep you on the path that the ego has
determined is the right one for you.
Recognizing this self-sabotage is
an enormous step in challenging your ego’s endless needs
and grasping ways. This is a liberating awareness that
says “Just because I’ve always done what that voice in
my head tells me to do, doesn’t mean I have to continue
doing its bidding. “
A CREATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Creativity is not limited to the arts or invention;
these are facets in the brilliant gem that holds all of
life. You are a creative being whose birth right is a
life sourced from the creative flow. All we need to do
is watch babies and children to taste the soul’s
capacity for love, joy and creativity. Babies and
children hear the song of their soul. They live in the
moment and find the world to be a place of wonder and
delight. As we grow up, most of us lose this connection.
The outer world becomes the greater and, for some
people, the only reality. When we close the door on our
inner lives and deep connection to soul, our world grows
smaller. Our capacity for wonder, joy and compassion
diminishes exponentially. Instead of our lives, on a day
to day basis, being a creative adventure, we fall victim
to our woundings and the song of the soul is drowned out
by the neurotic fears, needs and judgments of the ego.
You see this in people who are terminally bitter, angry
and judgmental. They go through life so barbed, you find
yourself avoiding them as if they had the plague. There
are others, few indeed, who maneuver life’s ups and down
with enviable equanimity. They know what is important to
them and they don’t have to prove anything to anyone.
They smile frequently. In fact, just being near them
makes you feel better.
Then there are people who are tired of living life at
the beck and call of their ego and their emotions.
People who sense there is more
to life than
the body can sense or the mind can accept.
If you are reading this, you are probably one of these
people. You feel within you a call to be free, but from
what, you’re not quite sure. You are hungry for
something that seems unavailable on the smorgasbord of
your outer reality. Some of the time you feel connected
to your work, family and friends, and life is good.
Other times your discontent is strong. Passion and peace
elude you. You are tired of blaming other people and
circumstances for your loneliness, emptiness and misery.
You feel adrift and you are searching. You know there is
an answer. Oh, if only someone would give you the answer
or point you in the right direction.
THE BAD NEWS IS THE GOOD NEWS!
The bad news is that no one can give you the answers. No
one holds the key to your freedom and your awakening; no
one but you can
hear the song of your soul – not religious leaders, not
teachers, not best friends or lovers, not books, not
meditation. These can be pointers and light shedders,
but the journey is yours. And this is the good news!
Because if someone could give you the key to your true
freedom, if someone else could define who you truly are,
they could take it away.
It was Eleanor Roosevelt who said, “No one can make
you feel inferior without your consent.” This is a
powerfully creative observation, one that most minds
find difficult to embrace. Even when you know that
claiming responsibility for your life is one of most
liberating movements you can make, living with this
awareness on a day to day is challenging. This is
especially true in our intimate relationships, where our
woundings are most readily triggered. The ego is all too
quick to blame the other for our misery, or turn the
table and blame you for being stupid, too needy and
deserving of whatever pain you get.
The creative process offers a different lens through
which we can view life’s vicissitudes. The more you experience its
enduring cycles as the pattern for life’s journey, the
more you silence your ego fears and feel unexpected
equanimity in situations that once left you unraveled.
In the space left by the departing ego stories, you
begin to hear the song of your soul rising up from the
creative waters of the unconscious. This song is
resonant with the life’s adventure and the knowing that
not birth or death, success or failure, joy or sadness
is an end in itself. Nothing is static, everything
changes and spring always comes.
Welcome the never
ending cycles of creativity as your path and the
creative process as your guide. Then you will never find
yourself stuck in yesterday’s fading embers or the
vapors of tomorrow’s dreams.
“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning
for life. I think that what we’re seeking is an
experience of being alive, so that our life experiences
on the purely physical plane will have resonance within
our innermost being and reality, so that we actually
feel the rapture of being alive.”
~
Joseph Campbell
© Copyright 2010 Emily Hanlon. All Rights Reserved.
 Awakening
to Your Soul Purpose: Creative Writing and Hearing the Song
of Your Soul is a unique and completely personalized program
that uses the template of the creative process for leading a
more fulfilling, aware and passionate life. Although at its
core, creativity is a mystery, the creative process is
knowable. Understanding its
cycles and allowing them to inform your relationships
with yourself and others create a powerful source for
personal spiritual growth and healing. The outcome is the
freedom to live life sourced from your passions and not your
fears. Then you can begin to hear the song of your soul and
awaken to your life's purpose. Emily’s work as both a
creativity coach and a writing coach supports the journey
inward. She shows up to your sessions prepared with
questions and processes that support your journey and lead
to you to achieving personal success. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Click here to learn more!
Emily Hanlon is a creativity and writing coach.
She has been guiding people on the creative journey for
30 years through private coaching on the phone and in
person, workshops, and her weeklong retreats for women
held in the US and Europe. She is the author of 7 works
of fiction, including the novel, Petersburg, which
reached the Best Sellers List in England.
Her work as a writing coach is offered through
The Fiction Writer’s Journey. Emily teaches you all
the techniques necessary for writing fiction: short
stories, memoir and the novel, while, at the same time,
she guides you on your journey to unleash your creative
passion.
Her work as a creativity coach can be explored at
Creative Soul Works. In addition to workshops,
teleSeminars and retreats, she offers her coaching
program,
Hearing the Song of Your Soul,
Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. This is a
personalized journey during which you explore the facets
of creativity that awaken you to the deeper truth of who
we are. Explored from this perspective, creativity is
synonymous with life itself and a powerful source for
personal spiritual growth and healing.
Guiding you to reclaim your creative passion is the most
powerful part of the journey you take with Emily through
either
The Fiction Writer’s Journey or
Creative Soul Works. Creative passion cannot be
taught. You are born with it. For most of us, however,
that deep passion that leads us to our true voice has
been buried by life experiences.
Emily has done extensive work in personal
transformation. She has worked with spiritual and
shamanic mentors and healers in the US, England and
Peru. In addition to her seven works of fiction
published , she has a book on writing, The
Art of Fiction Writing or How to Fall Down the Rabbit
Hole Without Really Trying and has been published in
Writer’s Digest Magazine. She is the Creativity Guide at
SelfGrowth.com, and a Wisdom Teacher leading the group,
Women, Creativity and the Journey of Soul at
Soulfulliving.com.
Contact Emily at:
emily@emilyhanlon.com
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