Creativity

Creativity is born when we feel emptiness and boredom and allow ourselves to accept this experience. In this way our creative energies will be released. Another way to release them is to go against what our inner self tells us is ”forbidden” and do it. Of course this does not mean ethically and morally reprehensible acts but is about our fear of going against certain social programming. But before the creative flow can start it often needs to be preceded by imitation and repetitions of the imitation. We have to do ”as if”, perhaps many times, until the creative ideas break out. But when we allow them to guide us from within, we thereby release our imagination and then we also feel inspiration.

The creative sequence of events is this:

Inertness  >  imitation  >  intuition  >  fantasy  >  inspiration.

The creative process in real life:

Phase 1: Emptiness

Here we feel empty, we can be sad, we are bored. Allow this and do not fill this phase with superficial activities.

Phase 2: Creativity flashes – preparation phase

New thoughts and flashes of imagination are beginning to emerge. They feel new and fresh and we are starting to prepare for this to develop.

Phase 3: The collection phase

We start collecting elements for what we want to express. In this phase it is really important not to make an assessment of what we feel we want to express. If we are afraid that everything will be a failure (or too great a success), we will continue to gather evidence for our creative expression but refrain from achieving a finished result.

Phase 4: Achieving – creating – expressing

Here we must allow ourselves to lose control of the creative process. We can instead choose to become a channel for the creative power. At this stage, we have to be careful with our various habitual perceptions and behaviours that want to come in and control. Our desire for order is a great danger to the creative process.

Phase 5: Emptiness – space – perspective

If we come to a stop in the creative process, it can be necessary to step back for a while to gain distance and perspective. This usually provides new inspiration. We also need to distance ourselves from the project in order not to personally identify ourselves with it. In this way we will get a better view of both the whole and the details. Since a holistic view is linked to our mental image of the project we will return to our inner vision if we do not confuse it with ourselves as persons.

Phase 6: Evaluation

It is not until now that it is appropriate to make an evaluation of what has been created.

Phase 7: Finishing – fine-tuning

Phase 8: Sadness – emptiness (= phase 1)

When we have finished a creative project, there is usually a feeling of emptiness and sadness. We may feel depressed. This is the same state as in phase 1. So, if we allow this feeling of emptiness, we are actually back at point one and can eventually expect our creative energies to take us on a new round. This is how it works normally in life, whether we think about it or not.