Artwork I developed intuitively during a one week residential workshop at Kripalu Yoga Center with Instructor Mochita Har Lev
Creativity is a Connection to Spirit.
While I am aware of the scientific explanations of the flow experience that have to do with neurological brain patterns and chemical endorphin release (Andreasen, 2005), I protest limiting our understanding of the creative experience to what occurs in the brain and the body. I believe the encounter to be at its apex, of a spiritual nature, as a spiritual connection to source energy. I recognize that the field of creative scholarship has been (deliberately?) moving away from this connection for some time, if only to avoid perpetuating the misconception that special people are anointed with a connection to god and are vehicles of its expression as well as the desire to ground the field in qualitative evidence, to make it legitimate and palatable in our western, secular culture. However, I feel we need to open up space for spirituality to come back into the conversations. From the beginning of time, man has connected the act of creation to spirituality. Historically, the creative process has also been tied with desire for spiritual unity…” (Buckenham, 2011, p.22). Our gods are the ultimate creators: The Christian God created the Universe and Brahma is the Hindu god-creator. To find support for my ideas around creativity and this connection to spirit I had to draw from research and ideas from people at the peripheral of the field, or at the intersection of fields and, to look for descriptions from earlier times and other cultures.
"Some have said that God draws people to himself
through creativity.” (Buckenham, 2011)
Eastern spiritual practices such as Yoga and Meditation make mention of creativity and it is indeed part of the spiritual journey to enlightenment. The Vedas, ancient Sanskrit texts, identify all creative intent and substance as a manifestation of primal consciousness (Maharaj, 2015, p. 3). Eminent creators in their respective fields have been responsible for divulging truths regarding the nature of our existence. Artists communicate and capture the gestalt of an entire time. Scientists reveal patterns and laws of nature. I believe this happens in tandem with Source. Through their creativity, they are able to connect to deep insights around the nature of life and our existence. “Often the creative process is similar to a spiritual or a transformational practice in creators. Some have said that God draws people to himself through creativity.” (Buckenham, 2011, p. 26).
Carl Jung, who (in my mind) served as a bridge between ancient wisdom in a modern context, felt that artists portrayed their experiences in music or words because they express the collective unconscious (May, 1975, p. 11). The collective unconscious I believe to be Source. “Meditation, practiced around the world as a basic tool for the cultivation of mental clarity, insight, creativity, inner calm, well-being, compassion…provides a means to access the untapped, infinite reservoir of creativity” (Maharaj, 2015, p. 10). More secularly, Maslow identifies creativity as a criterion of/for self-actualization; when a person is engaged in living up to their potential, sharing their talents and seeking and experiencing an integrated, healthy, balanced and purposeful existence (Davis, 2004). I see self-actualization as connected to enlightenment in the Buddhist sense. I can imagine nothing more important or a greater goal than to be self-actualized. Just imagine the contributions from a community of self-actualized people. Igniting creativity around the world appears a most pressing need. In my acts of creativity I strive to work from a deep place where I can make connection to spirit, to Source and to communicate from this connected place. It is where my most wonderful work comes.
You can find our more about the process behind my artwork shared above by going to Mochita Har Lev's site Meditative Art School. |
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