Creativity and the Art of Seeing

Many people express a desire for a creative life thinking that a creative life entails doing everything in an original way instead living a life that you are truly present in.  It’s an important distinction because people get unhappy with the life they are living, the work they are doing, or the food they are eating but get overwhelmed with the prospect of chucking everything and inventing a whole new way of being.  It isn’t that hard.  Open your eyes.  Just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz whose power to return home resided inside herself, not in her ruby slippers, the power to live a creative life is already inside you.   

The word creativity is fraught with expectations and judgment—most people think either you have “the gift” for creation or you don’t—and has come to mean building something out of nothing when really creativity is recognizing the materials you have at hand and rearranging them into something pleasing to yourself.  There isn’t a work of art or a brilliant solution to a problem that hasn’t stood on the shoulders of the work of others. 

And so it is with a creative life.  Achieving a creative life doesn’t mean starting from scratch, for example growing your own fiber for the socks you knit.  It could just mean paying more attention to where your buy your non-toxic knitting materials and adding a twist to a design to make it your own.   It could mean starting with a cold frame to grown your own lettuce before you commit to a yard full of raised beds and a compost heap.  And if you always thought you would love to live the life of an artist, the perfect first step is doing a little of that art every day.  Fifteen minutes before your official day begins even.  Pay no attention to the critics but pay strict attention to the joy you feel the rest of the day for being what you are. 

When I was in grad school, one woman in the program was so worried about whether she was “good enough” to be a writer, she badgered the instructors to give her feedback, give her the imprimatur authorizing her do what she wanted until finally one instructor said, “If you want to write, I can’t stop you.”  No matter what you want to do, if you decide to do it, no one can stop you. And don’t be afraid to rename yourself:  artist, gardener, seamstress, yogi, writer.  You are the story you tell about yourself and if you see your story clearly, so will others.  When others see it, it reinforces the truth of your story.

Envision the perfect life for you and then making subtle shifts in that direction. It doesn’t take the strength of Atlas to move the world to your liking, but it does take crystal clear vision to see what your building blocks are and strategize how to move them around.  If you’re a painter you don’t have to invent new ways to paint a nude, for example, but you do have to see the nude in front of you—his colors, form, light, composition, dimension—and perhaps concentrate on one of those elements before you incorporate others.  Recognize the tune in your head before you attempt a symphony.  If you want to grow your own food and process it for the winter, see what’s possible, doable, right now.  Perhaps it’s planning a cold frame or reading up on how to start a compost pile.  Planning is the second step to achieving the creative life you envision.

The power to see is in you right now and the best way to find your way through the tangle of too much input is to meditate.  And here, too, if you’re not used to meditating, don’t start with an hour long meditation on the mat which will make your feet fall asleep and cramp up and leave you anxious to solve all the problems you unearthed during the hour.  Start with a breath.  Index and middle finger on your nose.   Thumb on one nostril and inhale through the other.  Ring finger on the other nostril then release your thumb and exhale.  And close your eyes.  You’ll see better.