I’ve been reading and thinking about ‘creativity’ and where it comes from. Years ago I purchased Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, about accessing your inner creativity. I didn’t get around to reading it until we moved here to Bear River 9 years ago. I was so busy working in a library office that my limited ‘free’ time was spent painting, not reading about it. The book was a reminder of my frustration about my lack of creating time. I never imagined that I would be living in a gorgeous little village with years ahead of me to make art.
The assumption that we are all creative beings is fairly profound for some people who will say “Me? No, I’m not a very creative person.” or, “No, I don’t have any artistic or musical ability at all.”
But Cameron asserts that creativity is the natural order of life.
The life force, as I call it (some call it spirit, the creator, Goddess, God) is present in all living things. This week I’ve watched my bean sprouts swell and transform from round, hard pebbles to fragile seedlings with two leaves. That same life force energy that turns a seed into a plant is in each one of us. This force propels us forwards and develops us emotionally and intellectually. That combination is our growth, our creativity.
We can:
- ignore it
- suppress it
- use it
- postpone it
- drug it
- numb it
- deny it
- but we can never ever loose it
It is in our DNA and in our every breath. It is part of our being human.
Julie Cameron calls it spiritual electricity. She states that:
- creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy : pure creative energy
- there is an underlying, in-dwelling creative force infusing all of life – including ourselves
- when we open ourselves to our creativity, we open ourselves to the life force creativity within us and our lives
- we are, ourselves, creations. And we in turn are meant to continue creativity by being creative ourselves
- the refusal to be creative is self-will and is counter to our true nature
- our creative dreams and yearnings come from a divine source. As we move toward our dreams, we move toward our divinity
Today I painted in the studio. I started a new piece that just didn’t work. The colours were wrong and the composition was weak.
I set it aside and decided to make some changes to 3 unfinished paintings that have tested me. Not sure about the results of those either.
In my previous life (BBR – before Bear River), I would have felt very frustrated by this and worried that my creativity had left. But now I know that it will always be there. I only have to take advantage of my most precious commodity – time.
Outside freezing rain rattles the studio windows and creates beautiful patterns.
Inside, I listen to the acoustic guitar and percussion music of Ryan LeBlanc who played for us, right here in Bear River years ago.
The music, the scenes outside, the readings, and yes, even my painting was inspiring.
Tomorrow I’ll pick up my brushes and my paint again and embrace that creative force.
