Creativity conjures up a sense of mystery, fascination and longing. It can also bring up less positive feelings of intimidation and envy. If the Muse doesn’t seem to visit you as often as you’d like, or you’ve relegated creativity to your long-ago childhood, it can be seen as a gift that belongs to others who are considered to be “artistic”. What if the magic of creativity can also be yours?
Creativity moves in spheres far beyond art forms and artistic disciplines. Creativity is about experiencing the joy of discovering life, feeling its power flowing through you. It’s about tapping into the luminous stream of beauty all around you, liberating you from the everyday, perhaps disgruntled self that moves through the world, earning a salary, pushing the shopping trolley, grooming the dog and mulching the garden. All of these activities can be succulently enjoyable, but they can feel dry and boring if you’re unplugged from the creative force within and around you.
Step away from mundanity and find a new way of seeing by climbing your own inner mountain. Try out new ways of listening, walking, breathing and being as you adapt to the sun, wind, and storms – the moods of the mountain. As you use creativity to facilitate your openness to change, the risk of exploring your metaphorical mountain is no less exciting than the external challenges you set yourself in your life.
Using creativity as a tool, you can reconnect with the language of dreams, the realm of the little-known and even the unknown. You can undertake a thrilling journey into the rich land of your subconscious, with its enticing vocabulary of words, movements, colour, space and energy.
Allowing creativity to percolate through your being can take you to the heights or depths of your soul. It is a language by which you can receive messages from your ancestors, your inner self, and the source from which you came – whatever that means to you. These messages can be a powerful source of intuitive guidance in making decisions and following pathways in your life.
The next time you go on a nature walk, let the woodlands show you something you have not seen before as you tune into the delicacy of your senses: You will discover that there is always movement, even when things seem perfectly still. Strands of a web drift in the air, trees move in the breeze, birds fly by, and squirrels scramble in the branches. Grasses bend, insects crawl, rivers and streams are perpetually changing their shape and tune. Inside you, there is also motion – and this is where your creative force lies.
Your inner motion cannot avoid mirroring the motion of the world around you, and vice versa. The soothing sound of a breeze will be mirrored within you as calm; in turn, your tranquility will encourage the squirrels and birds not to flee at your approach.
If you notice yourself beginning to feel rushed or distracted, come to a complete stop and focus your attention on something nearby, watching and feeling how it is moving. Perhaps you feel drawn to a tree, stone, flower, or some other being of the woodland. Approach it in a friendly way, speaking out loud and introducing yourself.
This is a chance to take the time to listen with all of your senses. Notice what arises in your imagination, where the natural world often makes impressions: perhaps a flow of images, memories, body sensations, and ideas will come to you, as if you’re having a kind of conversation with your new friend. Tell it what you are receiving. Speaking and listening, let your friendship ripen in the rich field of imagination until you feel your conversation is complete.
On one of my external journeys, I came upon the soulful eyes of a deer. It had qualities of beauty, grace, innocence and sensitivity. Its combination of stillness and astute alertness kept me locked into that moment. I felt excited and inspired by the knowledge that two creatures – animal and human – could see each other in their raw form and hold respect for that. Something shifted in my thinking around an issue I was struggling with at the time and I was relieved of the anguish I carried heavily into the woodland that day. The creativity of fresh ways to look at my problem was revealed to me.
My workshops offer you an opportunity to discover the creativity that belongs to you, that is your natural birthright. They unfold for you a deepening of your relationship with the more-than-human world. You will be able to explore your connection with nature as you enjoy the natural environment of a woodland with streams and meadows. There will be minimal intrusion from human-made sounds such as traffic or construction so that you can fully drop into your inner well-spring of inspiration.
At my workshops, you will be guided to see and interact with life differently by being given time to simply notice and feel the enlivening connection that speaks to you through your surroundings. You will also have a chance to directly express your creativity through image-making in the art of Sacred Mask-Making. You will discover how your creative process mirrors your process of interacting with the world, and bring these insights back into your everyday life so you can begin to shift what isn’t working for you and invite in new, empowering possibilities.
To find out more about my workshops, go here.
Website by Trish Fitzroy. © Jean Hammond 2023.