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If there were a meaning to life (there isn’t) then it would be to create.
I use the word create here in the broadest way. As broad as your field of vision — immeasurably broad.
So when I say create I don’t mean you need to create something “material” as in a statue or a book or a chair.
You can create yourself, a new emotion, new thought patterns, or sometimes you can also just create a fucking mess.
The point is that creating is an integral part of the human experience.
Most of us do not want to sit in a cave and dwell in a state of tantric masturbation without hands, no matter how spiritual we think we are.
When we wake up to the wonder that is this experience, we usually want to dive in more deeply.
We want to add something to the world.
Be it beauty, wisdom, or even chaos.
But, and I think we’ve all heard this enough, many of us seem to see ourselves as uncreative.
It might be true that some people have more of an inherent knack for expressing themselves creatively but that doesn’t mean that creativity is reserved for a few.
It’s here for all of us, and it’s waiting to be released.
And if you have an urge to be creative, then that’s sign enough that there is plenty of creativity waiting to use you.
You Can’t Control Creative Urges
Creativity comes fairly naturally to me. But I didn’t always know what to do with it.
I always had a flourishing imagination and when I learned to clear the pipes of obstructions for the creative energy to flow, the outlets appeared naturally.
I like to write all kinds of things. I like to paint and draw. I like to cook. I like to make silly jokes like,
When you die, what part of the body dies last?
The pupils… they dilate.
Anyway, that’s not to say that I have control over the flow of this creative energy or that I feel like creating something all the time.
There are times when nothing is coming.
Some advice out there says that you just have to push and push and create anyway.
While there is value in showing up regularly, focusing only on that is an act of putting the engine into the trunk — it’ll make a lot of noise without any movement.
And what if you ride a bike? What do you need an engine for?
In other words, no advice applies to everyone all the time.
And art, if that is what you’re making, usually has its own clock.
What I find more valuable is becoming sensitive to the subtle energy that can show itself as a creative urge in your life.
When you do have a creative urge it can feel like a possession — a demon taking over and turning you into the kind of person that can bring that specific creative urge into existence.
What I call having a creative demon takeover is a magical experience. It’s a sense of clarity mixed with limitless energy.
You just know that whatever you’re creating is exactly what you’re supposed to be creating.
It might not be a clear path but it unfolds in a somewhat effortless way because it feels out of your hands.
You might feel like you have no say in it at all. You’re not in control of the process. The process has its own momentum.
This is good to know. Getting yourself out of the way is a major component in allowing yourself to be creatively possessed.
You can’t control your creative demon but you can feed it.
How to Feed Your Creative Demon
The most straightforward way I have found to feed the creative demon is stream-of-consciousness release or if you will, puking on a page (not literally, but if you want to literally do that, who’s going to stop you).
Stream-of-consciousness release is as simple as it sounds.
You get a notebook and a pen and you fill some pages. It doesn’t matter what you fill the pages with.
In her book The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron calls it morning pages. Every morning you fill three pages with whatever you want.
If you can’t manage three do two or one.
You might have no idea what to fill the pages with. But this is exactly what this will do for you — it will clear whatever is obstructing your creative energy.
Remember, you can fill it with whatever you want.
The key here is to not overthink it.
Scribble and scrawl and just put whatever comes to mind on paper. If all you can think of is the word “mitochondria,” then fill three pages with this word until another comes to mind.
This does work.
If you’ve never done anything like it, it might seem silly. But if you do it for a month you’ll see remarkable effects.
I’ve been doing this for a long time filling many notebooks. Most of the stuff that lands in those notebooks never sees another eyeball again.
And it doesn’t need to.
This is not your autobiography, nor is it profound information that a future civilization will unearth from the ruins of this one and turn into timeless wisdom sold on the future spiritual marketplace.
This is an exercise of unclogging the pipes, of removing obstructions.
Your mind will no longer be so cluttered and ideas will rush to you like a long-lost lover.
If you have an urge to be creative but don’t know what or how or when, then do this and your prayers will be answered.
Luka
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