Are some individuals just lucky to be born creative? Or perhaps creativity is abundantly available in our universe, and we are the vessels through which creativity can express itself.
Which of the above ways of thinking empowers us to be at least a little bit curious that, beyond our self-doubt and limiting beliefs, we, too, could be creative?
Creativity is the ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new. It is innovation, but, more than that, creativity is about play and giving ourselves the permission and space for exploration and curiosity.
Much like a toddler will explore and play when it feels safe in its environment, as adults, we can (re)learn to nurture our playfulness and creativity by recovering a sense of safety within ourselves.
“Creativity flourishes when we have a sense of safety and self-acceptance.”
– Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way
Author of The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron, explains that “the essential element in nurturing our creativity lies in nurturing ourselves.” And as eye-rolling-ly obvious that statement is, it couldn’t be more spot on.
The Artist’s Way is my bible. Chloe Thomas, gifted this book to me after one of our long conversations about our creative aspirations – and for that, Chloe, I am forever grateful! I have read many self-help books, but nothing has quite had the impact on my healing journey as The Artist’s Way has.
This 12-week collection of captivating essays, weekly exercises, affirmations, and specific tools has been praised by the likes of Alicia Keys, Elizabeth Gilbert, Kerry Washington, and Russel Brand for helping them discover and recover their inner artist.
Even if you have the tiniest inkling of interest in trying something creative – pottery, writing, painting, singing, acting, etc. – I recommend you go grab a copy of the book. It just may open a whole new world for you. It did for me.
Lessons The Artist’s Way taught me
- Creativity requires activity. You must show up to your creative project even when you feel the most resistance to do so. This is usually when you’ll unlock a new way of understanding something or find new inspiration.
- Don’t skip your morning pages. First thing every morning, write your morning pages. If you have nothing to write, talk about how you have nothing to write about. Write whatever comes to your mind. This is your private space – let it all out. It’s cathartic and you will learn to reconnect with your inner voice.
“For all creative beings, the morning pages are the lifeline – the trail we explore and the trail home to ourselves.”
- Our inner artist is a child. Sometimes (most of the time) our inner artist needs a lot of coddling to feel seen, heard, and loved just like a child. As the child’s adult, your responsibility is to provide it with what it needs to thrive. We must be generous and spoil our inner artist.
- The inability to start is not laziness – it’s fear. Whenever we experience anxiety or fear about our inner emptiness, we block ourselves with our personal choice of drug whether it is alcohol, food, sex, partying, or workaholism. It takes courage to admit and surrender your blocks, and in turn we must learn to trust our intuition, our desire, and our skill.
“If creativity is like a burst of the universe’s breath through the straw that is each of us, we pinch that straw whenever we pick up one of our blocks. We shut down our flow. And we do it on purpose.”
“Blocked, we know who and what we are: unhappy people. Unblocked, we may be something much more threatening – happy. For most of us, happiness is terrifying, unfamiliar, out of control, too risky!”
- Not all babies are born beautiful. We shouldn’t be too hasty in aborting our creative ugly ducklings. They may turn out to be our finest work of art, best written story, or an award-winning movie. Some creative projects just need a bit more time and patience to mature and find their true form and beauty. And as creatives, our job isn’t to judge, it’s to show up and do the work.
- The creative mind needs bodily support. For our creative energy to flow through us, we need to nurture our body. Creativity requires action, and some of that action must be physical. For real creative recovery to take place, we must learn to move out of our heads, thoughts, and sometimes self-obsessive thinking, and move into our body. Walking, jogging, biking, dancing, or horse-riding, helps us ground ourselves, and give space for new creativity to flow into us.
These are just a fraction of the aha-moments I had when working through the Artist’s Way. Although the first weeks were tough and I was sceptical about what the book would result in, around the midsection, something just clicked for me.
Lately, I’ve been overflowing with new ideas, which led me to scrapping the novel I was 24 thousand words deep into, only to discover I want to turn it into a screenplay. And no other decision that I’ve made has felt more right in a long while. Will I be any good at screenwriting? That’s not for me to judge. My only job is to show up at my keyboard and to type. The rest will be taken care of.
“When we are clear about who we are and what we are doing, the energy flows freely and we experience no strain.”
(All quotes used in this article are by Julia Cameron from The Artist’s Way.)
A marketing professional in tech by day, Lilli finds a creative release in exploring and writing about her perfectly imperfect human experience on muija. With heart and soul, she is learning how to navigate this life, and in sharing her stories Lilli hopes to inspire others to follow their curiosity, too.
