Friction: The Abrasive Nature of Creativity

Einstein said; “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” I’ve never heard anybody say that they were seeking imagination yet we all seek knowledge in the form of information. We want to appear knowledgeable in our field of study. We want to be well-informed before making a decision; to have a sense of knowingness so as to mitigate risk, and therefore to avoid harm. And what is this harm we are so intent on trying to avoid? Is it the severe mental, and therefore physical, discomfort from being pulled out of the familiarity of what we know to the point of feeling overwhelmed. Panic, anxiety, and depression are the trinity of anti-change. They are the indicators that we are onto something; that we’ve tapped into a vein of significant meaning. Nothing new can be created from the familiar. We all seek a sense of contentment that seems so coveted yet elusive. It is from imagination that newness is born. Yet, it is in taking action that change is made manifest. And here is where life happens, or doesn’t. 

The radical act of creativity is not so much a bringing forth, but rather a destructive force that tears down everything we thought we knew so that something new can emerge from the remnants. The friction and tension that must take place within an individual to break free of the familiar is a staggeringly uncomfortable process of transition and transformation. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression, and that it is the world’s leading cause of disability. And, what is disability? Dis-ability. To shun the ability to take action. The internalized fear of change. To turn inward and remain stuck in the recurrence of self, with the knowledge that we’ve become paralyzed in the shame of not taking action to move in the direction of creation by letting go of the known and familiar. Let’s face it; change is scary. It is the re-creation of self, and the dismantling of that which we’d known ourselves to be. Then there is the shame born of the self-judgement of the disability, which only adds a further hinderance. 

One in thirteen people, worldwide (7.3%), suffers from anxiety, with the highest rates in the U.S. at 40 million people (18.1%). Can we agree that anxiety is a prolonged state of panic that can lead to depression and the inability to act? And that inability to act is the disconnect between our imagination envisioning a state of creation from where we are capable of becoming, and the falling back into the routine of the familiar. This state of impotence is where depression lies. So in the end, risk-avoidance offers a guaranteed pain in the suffering that comes with self-judgement, as opposed to boldly leaning in the direction of change. Hellen Keller said that “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.” The friction that is inherent in the abrasive nature of creativity is the husk being torn from the corn. If we want to eat we must get under the skin.

What Do You Think?

We often become overwhelmed as we try to figure things out. It's not uncommon for life to hand each of us a challenge from time to time, and sometimes those challenges seem to be more than we can handle. Especially when we are tasked with making decisions that seem so monumental, and provide no guarantee of outcome, that our emotions cloud our ability to assess the situation clearly. Like many other times in our life, when asking for other's advice or opinions, we will ask them the same question that they will ask us: "What do you think?"

Let's step back a moment and acknowledge the inherent misconception of attention here. The question itself directs us away from where the answer we seek resides. This question is more appropriate for us to ask of others than for others to ask of us, which is where the lapse of awareness lies. The only answer that others actually can give us is to tell us what they think of our situation - and when they tell us what they think we should do, what they are telling us is what they would do; and even more correct is to say that they are telling us what they'd like to think they'd do if they were in our situation, based on who they think they are, not being in our situation. It's easy to get lost in the gap between who we are (if we wish to define who we are by what we choose), and who we'd like to think we are.

The more accurate acknowledgement would be to ask ourselves, or for others to ask us: What do you feel? And herein lies the conundrum; everybody else can tell us what they think we should do, or what they think they would do, but it is only us, and we, ourselves, alone, who feel the multitudes and layers of our conscious and un/subconscious thoughts which register as emotions and sensations in our body. The entirety of our existence is holographically imprinted in each of our cells and the most liberating, and terrifying, realization is that nobody else has our answer. So, that is in itself an excrutiatingly beautiful solitude. We are invited to put down the worry and asking-of-others so that we can relinquish ourselves into the personal space of solitude where the answers we seek are waiting to be found. It is a sobering realization that although we can often find resonance in the opinions of others when they reflect back to us what we already know but do not yet see, it is when we come to a place where we can, even briefly, recognize and acknowledge the divine moment of stillness within ourselves that we can invest our faith in the answers we find, with knowledge that the stillness within us resides in a timeless place which we are blessed enough to access and have pass through us, like a radio station signal picked up by the antenna of ourselves. The station is always broadcasting if we will only tune in.

One Breath Away...

It's easy to become overwhelmed with the voices of the many. A person can devote a lifetime to seeking an answer that comes from anywhere but within. Granted, it is an acknowledgement that resonates when we hear without what we recognize within, yet in seeking that mirror to reflect back what has been clouded out by our own disengagement from self, we seek workshops, therapy, lectures, books, classes, blogs, and the opinions of experts, to provide us with that which is quietly known all along. We are all just one breath away from turning the mirror inward to a terrifyingly solitary, yet clarifyingly liberating, place where we can sit calmly in nature, aligned with what we already know, being that if we simply embrace all there is, as it is, in this very moment, that there is nothing more to learn, no more running around to do, no other opinions to seek, and no validation necessary that will see us in the way we just need to see ourselves. We have already arrived if we will just allow ourselves to be here, now. Even for a moment. And that is all there is. This moment.

Although change so often feels like death itself to those of us who resist it, we need not relinquish everything we've been up until now in becoming some new, as-of-yet, not-fully-realized version of ourselves. Rather, who we've been will lay the foundation on which our renewed selves can build and thrive. Faith is the space between what was, what is, and what will be. Even if it all exists simultaneously, it is only where we place our attention and how we choose to breathe that will allow us to let go and truly relax into the now that we always are.

How might we feel if we just slowed down in this very moment, right now? What would happen if, for ten minutes, we just let go of thinking that we had to do anything more than just relax into our own being? Let's close our eyes as we breathe in and out through our nose. Let's simply drop our shoulders, relax our jaw, relax our hands and our toes. Let's soften our eyes. Let's just turn the mirror inward and calmly see what we see. In this lifetime of our existence let's dedicate these next ten minutes to just being still.

Who Are We?

We must always question what we believe so as to become more than who we think we are. This is not a comfortable proposition. We live in a culture where we are taught that we must know who we are if we are to be strong. The question becomes: How do we define who we are? We all have many feelings, thoughts, and emotions. We identify who we think we are mostly by how we feel. Our emotions are so strong that we create not only firm opinions about ourselves, the world, and our place in it, but we then create a personality and identity around those feelings based on beliefs we invest in which we defend at all costs. Our very personhood feels threatened when our beliefs are challenged, and we'll often panic rather than breath into the possibility that what we believe is a choice rather than a fact. More than feelings, thoughts, emotions, and even beliefs, it is worth considering that what defines us the most is actually the actions we take. We can learn a lot about ourselves when we witness how we go about making the decision to take action and, ultimately, it is the action itself that can reveal to us what we believe rather than what we think we believe, or what we'd like to think we believe. What would happen if we removed judgement from both the process and the outcome? Who are we when we are not being who we think we should be based on who we think we've been.

Let's take a moment now and just breathe as we let go of trying to figure out what we should do based on who we think we are. We will end up making whatever choices we eventually make, so the best choice we can make is to be here right now and just breathe into this very moment. That is the key that will unlock the door to ourselves.

Let's close our eyes and sit up comfortably. Breathing in and out through your nose, feel your belly expand and release. Let your jaw relax. Soften your eyes. Relax your scalp. Drop your shoulders. Relax your hands. For five minutes just breath and love yourself enough to be right here, right now. Everything else will take care of itself later if we take care of ourselves now.

Purpose

How can we align purpose with our intentions so that our actions move us forward in the direction of our vision? There is a distinction to be made between activity and action. Activity will endlessly fill time yet not necessarily lead us in the direction of making manifest the desired vision we hold which would bring us closer to the engaged sense of contentment we seek. Activity is action without intent. For the sake of efficiency and personal success, how can we identify the distinction between keeping busy, and moving the needle closer towards the life we want to live? If we can future-vision ourselves already living the life we want to live, then we can reverse engineer the steps that lead us there. With each choice we make we are either moving in the direction of our dreams or we are not. Movement is always happening, and it is our choice in which direction it takes place. When we are anxious or concerned that we are not where we should be we tend to make choices based in fear and comparison. What would happen if we calmed ourselves by turning inward towards our imagination and breath as we envisioned where we want our choices to lead us? If we can take a moment to infuse our actions with intention we will rediscover that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Let's sit up straight and close our eyes as we spend five minute relaxing into our breathing while we envision how we wish to feel in the life we want to live. Let's experience that future feeling now so we will recognize it when we arrive there later. And in so doing, we will make the later now. Let's become familiar with who we already are instead of waiting another moment to become ourselves. We are who we are later, now. Just ask the acorn!

That Feeling. Yes; that One!

What is that feeling you are trying to ignore? You know. That uncomfortable one. The one that is nagging and pulling at your sleeve (trying to get your attention while you turn your gaze to everything else); everything else that feels familiar, and easier, and certain. Do you find yourself keeping busy running around from one thing, and person, and situation, to the next? Isn't it in those in-between moments when that uncomfortable sense of questioning starts to arise? It seems that we will do anything to avoid being uncomfortable, yet when we try to escape, in whatever ways we do, we find that uncomfortable feeling lurking in the background, laying dormant, and starting to creep back to the surface after the honeymoon period of newness starts to diminish. A question worth asking is: Are our feelings dependent on our outer circumstances? What would be the honest answer if we asked ourselves if we would feel the same way we do no matter where we were? We all seem to want to be happy all of the time, yet the expectation of that is exactly what keeps us from experiencing being content. Contentment is about embracing where we are and what we feel. We may think we are seeking the outer validation that often comes from achievement, but aren't we more fulfilled with the contentment that comes from an inner sense of purpose? If we can calm ourselves down right here where we sit, perhaps the very feeling that demands our attention, like a child needing its parent's acknowledgement, is asking us to follow its calling into the revelation of the present moment.

Let's sit up straight right now. Breathe in through your nose for a count of three. Take a moment to feel your lungs filled to capacity. Now breathe out for a count of six. Let’s close our eyes and spend a minute doing this together while we make friends with what has been that uncomfortable feeling which we've tried to ignore. What would happen if we welcomed that feeling into our home with the same embrace that we would give those we love. Let's see...

I.O.I.

Intention. Optimism. Integrity. This trinity is the foundation by which the best of our visions become manifest. Before investing in any thoughts, uttering any words, or starting any endeavor, we would do well to ask ourselves if each of these aspects is aligned within us and with each other. The very awareness of the relationship we have with these aspects of our being is success inherent, and whatever goal we set for ourselves is sure to be obtained if this is how we set sail. Even if the winds shift, and unforeseen elements come into play, the fact that the port from which we set forth was built upon the I.O.I. foundation assures that every leg of our journey is worth the discoveries we find along the way. The goal becomes less of a destination and more of a signpost that marks the passage and arc of our quest, having passed through each way station on our adventure that was a destination in its own right, imbued with presence and authenticity. Each moment is a teacher if we are good students who are paying attention to where we are instead of where we are going. What vision do you hold that gives you passion and fulfillment? What journey are you willing to take that is worthy regardless of when and if you ever reach a final destination? What life do you envision for yourself that would make the experience of I.O.I. not only necessary, but natural? The journey is who you are, and our intention, optimism, and integrity are the winds by which we fill our sails. Let's begin...