Seeding Creativity
Seeding Inspiration
The creative process, as I’ve learned throughout the years, isn’t quite as simple as sitting down and creating. Creating and actualizing a vision is a relational dynamic, one asking of us to take the requisite space to listen and seed inspiration; to connect deep into the source of the well that is feeding the thirst for the project to be born.
However, whatever moves us in our lives towards our personal and professional goals, those creative inclinations to serve the world through our unique participation, is a process replete with challenge and uncertainty.
There are distractions and cloudy vision, exhaustion and insecurity. The “writers block” of creativity, regardless of the discipline, is a real phenomenon that requires a dedicated approach to maximize the likelihood that today, something resembling “flow”, will occur.
What I’ve Found...
What I’ve found is that patience truly is a virtue, that when working on a clock, the pressure to perform can stifle output. Given that I’m a mother of three, with all the attached responsibilities and distractions, when I’m afforded the opportunity to work and create, my tendency lures me first towards a down dog, a glass of water, a nutritional meal, a run, or something else that can appear more self-serving than productive.
Time, being a finite resource, comes with a demand to DO NOW. Those of us in places like the U.S., understand this cultural narrative conditioning us to rank activities based on their effectiveness in delivering results. We have all sorts of adages to reflect this ideology—none more stripped to brass tacks than--time is money.
My own reflections upon the instinctiveness generated when I’m set to creative tasks, is that just as a garden bed needs to be prepared in order to yield healthy results, we too are required to nourish our whole being in order to generate the fruit of our inspirations.
We must attend to the truth that we are humble participants in life, recipients of ever-present wisdom, and by slowing and bowing down with open arms, we may come to a more full understanding of creativity as a gift bestowed to us rather than a derivative of sheer brute force of will.
With that in mind, here is a list of 7 practices to open the channels for inspiration and creativity:
1. Prioritize Hydration
Set the stage for life force to move through you. Water is the source where all creation flows and when our body is hydrated our mind is clear. We often live our lives dehydrated or moderately hydrated.
2. Soul Journaling
Capturing inspiration and treasures from your heart requires patience and attentiveness to the whispers of your heart as they reveal themself. We never know when they will speak to us. Always have a journal on hand to capture the whispers of your spirit.
3. Step into Nature
If you sit at your desk and life isn’t flowing through you, go to a rich space in nature and breathe.
4. Ritual
Offers you the opportunity to attune your personal energy to the energy around you and welcome your environment and your heart to inform you. Create space. Choose a few of your favorite crystals that you’re drawn to, light a candle, close your eyes and set your sankalpa (your intention). Ask for guidance and see what shines through you in these treasured moments of quietude.
5. Bio-Rhythms
Observe your daily energy rhythms . When do you have the most energy? Ever heard the saying “Early bird Gets the worm? Choose the time of day where your mind is most lucid to write. I’ve found the hours of 10am-12pm are when my brain is functioning clear, but as a mother, often my schedule wont allow it. . All this to say, I may use this as my seed space to create inspiration and then wake in the middle of the night and pick up my journal.