Creativity

Her voice caught me from the first note, swelling through the concert hall in a wave of sound. I didn’t speak the language – wouldn’t understand a thing until the English aria near the end. It didn’t matter. In fact, I barely glanced at the translations included with the program. I didn’t want to be distracted.

Just a single voice and a piano player. Her expressions danced from anger to sorrow to thoughtful to flirtatious – I could feel the emotion without understanding the words. She leaned against the grand piano when it fit the music. I appreciated the beauty of her, the invitation to be watched and admired. Her accompanist beautiful too, as she swayed with the playing, her foot pumping the pedals. The curves of the women and the piano, the golden lines of the stage, the black and white of her dresses. I wrapped myself in the sheer sensuality of the experience, let my mind wander on the notes, a Fantasia of ideas and images…

I found myself wanting to write. I was surprised and delighted by this desire. In the past, musical and theater performances have made me want to get on stage and act or sing. I’ve felt inadequate or sometimes better than the performer. I became caught in comparisons.

This time, I only thought about talents I already have. My imagination took me into fantastic journeys of well-crafted words. I relished the thought of fine-tuning the drafts until I was satisfied. Then offering it up to whoever wanted listen, like me, here, in this concert hall.

I thought about other art that had inspired me. Not just performances, but also great books and movies, poetry slams, galleries of art. Soaring architecture and brilliant sculpture and delicious, beautiful plates of food.

I realized that in my search for creativity, I had always thought it should be original - an idea fueled by inspiration from some divine source. And none of that mattered here. I could fly on the inspiration of this voice and this piano player wherever it wanted to take me. I could build on this music, this experience, make it a part of whatever I was trying to create.

The last piece was Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915”. Barber had read a poem by James Agee and was so inspired he put it to music. I smiled with appreciation at the synchronicity. A musician, inspired by a poet to create a beautiful work, to be enjoyed by me almost 60 years later. Inspiration doesn’t emerge from a vacuum – it’s right here, on the wings of these poets and composers and singers. It’s in the boldness of someone willing to get on stage and put their soul out there.

If you are missing that creative spark, try indulging in a live performance. Or pick up a really great book. Read some poetry, go to a gallery. Let the sheer magnificence of human imagination revive your passion. It surely did mine.

I sometimes fall victim to Toxic Option Syndrome. I think it is most commonly associated with shopping – so many brands and stores and colors and sizes. So many that I stand in a stupor and buy nothing. For more minutes than I care to admit.

And the in-store thing is really a minor event. In the end, who really cares which one? But when it comes to life decisions, it’s a different story. What’s the next step in my business or my career or my relationship? What is my life path? Where should I focus my creativity? And if I inch my toe into one idea, what about all those others that come flooding in? What if I waste my valuable time? Or my money? And this whole thing is a dead end? Then what have I done to myself?

Can’t I do all of them? I’m a multitasker! I’ll just do these seven projects and learn to draw and launch this class, and, and…

And so, the obvious choice is just like the store. Stand in a stupor and hope the answer comes – only in this case it can last for days, months, years, lifetimes. And standing there still doesn’t tell me the RIGHT one. Surely there is a right answer!? (as I glare suspiciously at the heavens.)

Honestly, I don’t find myself in that place as often as I used to, thanks to some advice I received a few years ago.

“Just DO something. Anything. Pick one and go!”

“But…” I stammered. And was interrupted immediately.

“No buts! This isn’t permanent. But you have to ACT, or there’s nothing to work with. A little action in any direction gives the universe something to build on. And that way, you might be able to avoid a cosmic club to the side of the head.”

That didn’t sound good.

So, I did something. Not something I was really excited about, but it was an opportunity knocking. After awhile, there were more knocks on the door. Some literal, some profitable, some very exciting. And it keeps happening, as long as I’m putting in some energy or motion or action. Yes, you can coast for awhile, but it takes some care and feeding to see it grow. I was amazed that it actually worked. And continues to work over and over.

So get out there and just do it! Stop thinking about the possibilities and move those ideas into tangible creation. You can even set a timeline for yourself. Say, three months. Or a month. Even a couple weeks of concerted effort.  If nothing happens, or you don’t like it after than time, then try something else.

See, it wasn’t so bad.

The New Year always gets me excited.

I think it started when I was kid. My mom would have us sit down on New Year’s Day and write out our goals for the year. I would spend hours contemplating that list – dividing things into categories that I thought would occupy my next year. Creative, spiritual, physical, and educational were usually top featured. Later, financial became a part of it too.

For me, there was power in those moments: Thinking about the future, my desires, making them concrete. It filled me with possibility, excitement, hope – so much that I could feel my heart leap and swell at the potential of things to come.

Now, whether or not I make a list, that feeling starts up around the middle of December and takes me through the middle of February. I admit, I get excited all year about new possibilities, but this New Year thing is different. It has momentum. Promise. Tradition.

Caroline Myss talks about it as the holiday of the fifth chakra (throat). This is the chakra of the will, the place where the head and heart meet to discuss terms and desires. It can be a battleground or a place of melding. It is definitely the place to get our head and heart into alignment and open to some real power and possibility.

This year, consider the different voices from your head and heart. Weigh them with your mind and with your body. See if you can bring them together so strongly that you thrum with the possibilities. And don’t worry! January 6^th isn’t too late to get started.

Creation is one of the most fundamental aspects of being human. We revere the work of artists, playrights, writers, dancers, craftsmen, speakers, poets, musicians. They have the power to touch souls, raise emotions, inspire hope, incite passion. They speak the unspoken, unveil the mysteries of consciousness and the universe. They tell tales of anger, pain, joy, peace.

You are one of those people. You have the power to express the deep mysteries of who you are, what you feel, and what you believe. In fact, you are the only with that ability. The stories you write, the songs you sing, the paint you splatter on a canvas - you are the only that can do that and fully express the range of who and what you are. The beautiful and agonizing pieces of your experience.

Don’t let comparisons with other artists deter you from this task. Ignore the mind that says “You suck at this. Go back to bed.” Let the barbs of critics pass you by and conjure the deep wells of your experience into physical form. Fall into that place where the gods speak through you - where your brush or pen or voice or whatever you are doing seems to flow. And until it flows, wade around in the muck, slogging through mediums and ideas until you find that place of inspiration - where something wells up and demands to be heard. Then let it out. Let it out!

Recently, Salon writer Cary Tennis wrote a great piece of advice to a writer sabotaging her work with distractions. He talked about what it takes to make it happen - the fears you need to wade through, the technical details, the cultural obstacles. He talks of writing - and I think he would say creating - as a call.

For that’s what it is: It is a call. It might not be clear exactly what it is yet. But something is calling you and you have to answer the call. It might be frightening to answer — it might be asking you to face certain fears about your own competence and value. It may be asking you to take up a challenge. But I believe that whatever it is you are trying to accomplish, it is best to begin with your own motivation and your own desire, and work from that place, rather than concentrate on the phenomenon of distractions and try to eliminate them. You will find more energy in focusing on your objective than in focusing on defeating the distractions.

…In other words, in order to overcome this habit of distractions, I recommend that you focus first on becoming who you are as a writer, and that you embark on a journey. I recommend that you enact a long-term plan, not just to start writing but to become a writer in the world. Join the worldwide community of writers.

In a sense, expressing yourself creatively is a deeply personal process that paradoxically allows you to enter into a broader world of creators. And if we are all fundamentally and imperatively creators, it seems that creation makes us more fully human.