The Challenge of Creativity
by Micheline
Brierre
When people see my art, they often
exclaim, "You are so creative! I cannot even draw a straight line!" My answer is
the same, "I cannot draw a straight line either; when I need one, I get a
ruler!" Creativity has nothing to do with art, although it can invade the art
field.
Creativity is about the dynamic
forces and impulses within us. It is the constant catalyst that generates so
many aspects of living, the beautiful, ever changing flow of life. We generally
do not learn this in kindergarten and we need to, because it would reinforce and
confirm what all healthy toddlers know instinctively. Little ones usually do not
have big bullies who attack their creative life force. They don't have to battle
(yet) poor self-esteem, routines, and mental tapes; they don't have an image to
project and protect, no ego to feed, and addictions to satisfy. They are free;
simple stuff. They deal with imaginary worlds, they see angels, light tunnels,
they remember past lives, they can be cat, mimes, or superman; they live their
dreams.
It may not last forever; this
glorious state of beingness is soon trapped by various shapes of parental and
societal molds. Soon, the freedom gives into carefully analyzed programs handed
down through generations. Whole codes and rituals develop and become law. The
early child shrinks into dark recesses of the psyche and the adult comes to
rule. Does the adult remember where the child has gone? I believe that in the
measure, the adult can remember and rise with the little one in plain daylight,
to laugh at the sun and dance in the air... creativity is still at
hand.
Creativity &
Children
I knew a child who pinned his
mom's nightgown on his shoulders and ran through the garden with the uniquely
charged power of delight and discovery. He had just read "The Little Prince". He had power. He led his cousins to great
games from the lofty perspective of a large ficus tree. When this child found
himself in an adult body, he demanded to be heard. He guided the adult toward
paint, brushes, canvases; together they created art and made movies. Unless
caught up in a negative environment, children are all artists, they are poets,
actors, performers, and yes, as such, they so delight us!
My little cousin heard her mom
mention a sigh... strange word. She had never heard it before. Like a new
lollipop, she tried it, turned it around her tongue and her mind, then stored it
like a fresh treasure close to her heart. When the family went out for dinner
that night, she was asked what she wanted to eat... so, out came the wish, very
deliberate, "I want a sigh!"
Feeding on Beauty
My daughter recently told me how
she reacted to the beads in my jewelry studio. "When I found a bead that was
truly beautiful, I took it in my hands, then in my mouth, then I swallowed it!"
Good grief? Am I glad I only just found out, now that she is safely twenty-four!
Yet, fed on beauty, the soul thrives. So how do we keep this sense of awe, the
ability to see anew, to discover, to question, to act intuitively, to create, to
investigate, to treasure, the ability to make things happen; not just anything,
but the ones that truly matter to the heart, the ones that put laughter on our
faces and joy in our eyes?
Somewhere in our development, we
let go of that wide eyed, wondrous child. It is not hard to do. How often have
we heard, "You are not a baby any more." "When are you going to act like a
responsible adult?" "Grow up!"
Eventually, we do, which is O.K.
-- but in doing so, we also shut the inner child and the creative power we
possess. I often suspect that teenagers act so sullen and angry because they
have crossed the bridge from childhood to adulthood without enough help to
handle the new role. Without grace and ease, they become resentful. They get
stuck in an interim time of awkward reticence and rebelliousness. Teenagers are
rushed toward the serious world while they grieve the creative power lost. Must
it be this way? Must we give up such a vital part of our creative beingness to
live in our society?
Creativity -- Let It
Flow!
In a planet charged with
challenges, disease, violence, disasters, fears, and frustration, I sense a
great cosmic need for major creativity to team with all of what we know
spiritually. We need to question our leading concepts and find new approaches to
education, health, life itself. Now this is a creative challenge! Can we look at
creativity as the expression of our higher self, guiding us through our life
purpose? May it be in parenting, in public service, in the finance world, in
teaching, in playing, in dreaming -- we need a fresh way to respond, which means
we need a fresh way to think.
Human emotions are deep and lead
us to identify with their passion. We say it everyday, "I am angry, I am
scared!" Am I? I feel anger, I feel pain but am I these emotions? We need to
free ourselves of the many molds and limiting formulas we have accumulated over
the centuries. The dogma of civilization weigh heavily upon our daily lives. We
are so easily indoctrinated into a whole set of concepts and routines that
fossilization sneaks in, and we take it at face value.
Sometimes I listen to the radio
when I work. The weather news reflects a set of concepts about good and bad.
Gray days are all bad. Rainy days are worse. Nothing short of sunny is good --
yet days don't judge themselves. They are just being whatever they are. Storms
do challenge us greatly, but are they bad? When someone dies we do hurt, we
grieve, but is death bad because we hurt? Do our concepts of good and bad
enhance our well-being or do they perpetuate a set way of thinking that dictates
crippling responses? Imagine waking up to a few clouds and discovering all the
rich tones of gray, the cool, refreshing shade, the sense of quiet as we go
within to find our center of peace.
Creativity Is You
Creativity has no formulas and no
dogma. Creativity fuels happenings, finds solutions, heals and empowers. It
keeps us fresh, young! You embody it as surely as the life force within you. All
you need to do is give it permission to be, to speak for itself, and it will. I
need to warn you that once you do so, you may find yourself on the edge of an
exhilarating world -- your inner self and wisdom.
Maybe the better message is not to
grow up after all, but just to grow wise. Creativity teamed with wisdom will
challenge your assumptions, question your habit patterns, dispel many myths and
plunge you into the domain of personal references and experiences where your
intuition and inner guidance reign supreme. You may start acting like yourself.
You may stop buying many things to make your own; and if you never liked office
work, you may take up flying. Go dream now, and cry too, then sing on rainy
days, that's what the frogs do.
Recommended book:
Living Juicy: Daily Morsels for Your Creative Soul
by
SARK.
Info/Order book
About The
Author
Micheline Brierre is an artist, jewelry
designer, metaphysical teacher, freelance writer, a Universal Brotherhood
Minister and is listed in the "Who's Who of American Women." She can be reached
at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
You may communicate with her in French, English, and/or Spanish. Visit her website at www.michelinebrierre.com
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