Creativity constitutes the ultimate intimacy, for it is the place where the Divine & the human are most destined to interact. ~ Matthew Fox
Since I was a little girl, my closet has been full of containers of odds & ends, old magazines, beads, bits of nature, string, fake flowers & more.
Now a big girl, in my 1-on-1 sessions, workshops & spiritual circles, I have been hauling out these objects to create with my folks.
“If you work on your creativity, you deepen your spirituality. And if you work on your spirituality, you deepen your creativity.” ~Julia Cameron
Perhaps you relate with having a very strong left brain (my 9-years of higher education in science deepened that). Logic & reason can only take us so far in connecting to that which is beyond the rational mind. In my experience, Divine speaks to us through images & symbols which land in our bodies rather than our brains.
“When we enter the creative process with the intention of listening for the movements of the Spirit in the midst of the work, we discover new insights about ourselves and God.” Awakening the Creative Spirit
While I am very comfortable with crafts, when I summon the courage to grab a paintbrush or a pencil, I can find myself crumbling to my knees in tears. Powerful medicine revealed. My mentors fervently encourage me to stay the course, to see what is behind the unrest.
Paper & canvas hold limitless potential for my path of awareness. Gently welcoming the medicine, I play with Spirit in different mediums such as felting (those otters), altar creation (see below) poetry & creating this website.
“Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.” ~ Robert Bresson
Playtime (aka practices)
Here is an opportunity take 5 minutes (or more) to go beyond thought & into sacred creativity by setting up a personal altar.
Check-in with how you are feeling & what you sense inside
Start with music that stirs your Soul, or silence if that feels nourishing
Begin with an intention. Perhaps honouring oneself, nature, ancestors, Spirit, the seasons...
Gather several small meaningful objects, photos, fresh flowers/plants, jewelry, written quotes, books, stones...
Purposefully place them on an appealing cloth (scarf, napkin, etc) feeling into your unique manifestation of beauty
Consider adding a lit candle to your creation
When complete (for now) ,check-in with how you are feeling & what you sense inside. Take in what you have manifested as well as any revelations during the process.
It is never about the product itself, rather it is the power of the personal artistic experience. Your altar is a living, creative process that can bring wordless insight & presence to your path. The invitation is to recreate it as needed.
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” ~Erich Fromm
We can create a safe place for art to move along the spectrum from presence & bliss to metabolizing the shadow & back again. We can move into the unknown, allowing space for Source to speak to the heart.
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