Being an artist means forever healing your own wounds and at the same time endlessly exposing them. At moments we are all artists. And we need to do this, in order to grow. How to do it, is to have the courage to turn away from everything that doesn’t feed your soul.
“All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind from inner stillness” – Eckhart Tolle
The artist is the individual who allows him or herself to emerge in their own presence of passion and is driven to create something – imagined or whether intentional. Children are so gifted at this – they invent, express vision, create for the sake of exploring and learning, while feeling happy – and we were all children once upon a time. What happened to us? What stopped us tapping into our artistic soul?
Two activities, dreaming and mindfulness both play a big part in activating the creative mind allowing us to tap into our ‘artistic’ soul. Your soul is constantly talking to you, communicating with you, navigating you through life, telling you whether to go this way or that way… But many of us don’t stand still long enough to pay attention, so we can hear it.
Believe it or not, daydreaming leads to deep connections and insights! Far from being a ‘waste of time’, it has a very important function – it is related to our ability to recall information in the face of distractions. And daydreaming involves the same brain processes associated with imagination and creativity, and when we do more of it, we activate the artist within ourselves. For people who are highly creative, this kind of process is almost as essential as breathing.
… But we are all creative deep down, and in today’s business world, creativity, ingenuity and thinking ‘outside the box’ are highly prized skills to bring to any team or leadership table – because they add value to problem solving.
If you think you’re not creative. Think again. Creative mindsets are within all of us. They can be cultivated.
Sometimes it is the quiet observer who see the most…
Creative souls have a curious mindset and love to immerse themselves in totally new experiences to expand their state of mind – it’s the openness and curiosity which is a significant predictor of creative output. You just have to look at a child’s innocence when it comes to creating, they are open, curious and non-judgemental.
A creative soul thinks of life as either a daring adventure or nothing at all, creative souls are thrill seeking individuals, they love to tap into the imaginary world or the fantasy world. For example have you seen the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia? Another great watch is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. These are both very different films, but they are both movies filled with magic and fantasy, serendipity and imagination!
When we can get lost in an enchanted movie, our creative juices get activated. And it’s when you have completely lost yourself in a magical movie … that’s the time when you reflect and invest time with your journal, because that’s when your ideas will come flowing in.
Opening your mind to fantasy drives cognitive and behavioural exploration of the world, your inner world and your outer world. And that’s why creative individuals are curious about the world around them, they allow their minds to ‘wander’ and be the observer of their inner and outer world, asking curious deep provoking questions like why and how, it is the way it is.
View your life as an opportunity to express your passion…
Artistic souls are driven by their ‘hearts’ desire, they are intrinsically energised by challenging activities, that boost creativity. How often do you walk around and appreciate all that is, the beauty in the trees and the flowers? When you view everything around you as beautiful, you see beauty in every aspect of your life. You are training your brain to seek all the beauty in your world.
It’s easy! You can do it while walking to grab your lunch, appreciate the simple things, like the air that you breathe. Practise being in the present moment, mindful and when you catch yourself thinking of the past or the future, bring it back to here and now. Being mindful can be as easy as stop, breathe, step back and then act.
Artistic souls understand the value of a clear and focused mind, because their work depends on it. And this is why there are an abundance of entrepreneurs, writers and other creative workers whom practise daily mindfulness and meditation to tap into their most creative state of mind.
Believe it or not … ‘doubt’ is part of the creative process, because when you experience doubt, it will force you to go deep and inquire with that greater part of your mind to shed light on what you are experiencing. This is highly productive.
The greater the doubt, the greater the awakening…
Doubt can sometimes make you stop in your tracks, it may even get in the way of what you want to do and how you want to create. Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, unable to assent to any of them.
Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainty, distrust or lack of conviction on certain facts, actions, motives or decisions. Doubt can result in delaying or rejecting relevant actions out of concern for mistakes or missed opportunities.
How then, can you deal with paralysing doubt?
You can make a difference by spending some time alone with your mind … ask the question: Where does this doubt come from? Is it really my doubt or is it a learned doubt? Do I have any evidence? And what is my artistic soul trying to tell me?
Get into the core of your doubt as it is in that deeper part of your mind, by focusing on it and brining it forward to your conscious mind allows you to connect with it. Then you can decide what you want instead of this doubt and begin to focus on that.
Create a conscious relationship for thy artist soul…
Master your mind with conscious thinking by first listening to your thoughts. Don’t get bogged down listening to your thoughts – be the observer of them – don’t belief your thoughts but be the observer of your thoughts to hear what your artistic soul is trying to say to you. This will give you an indication of what limiting beliefs resides deep within you that is getting in the way of you being a creative mind with an artistic soul.
When you think about your relationship with creativity, what is important to you? I encourage you to write six things. Then put them in order of preference. Look at your top three, how much are you living and breathing what you value? On an overall average. How do you want to feel? Why did you stop your creative genius from coming through? And what are you going to do to bring it back to life?
Most of the time we don’t do the deep work and wonder why we are not ‘satisfied’ in life, yet there is that inner child living in all of us, crying out to be creative, wanting to fully embrace and experience life. So, challenge your thoughts and beliefs… especially the ones that seem so deeply ingrained in you that you may take completely for granted.
Identify your core beliefs to get in touch with your most basic assumptions about your identity and place in the world. Recognise that many of the ideas and beliefs that you take for granted are not shared by many other people. Become more fully conscious through challenging your typical habits, ways of thinking and patterns of behavioural responses.
Shine the bright light of mindfulness onto yourself and become more conscious…
Acknowledge your biases and limited perspectives. Admit to yourself that you don’t know everything … even in your own field or line of work. Give yourself permission to choose to maintain an open-minded and curious soul towards your life. Cultivate your sense of awe and wonder with the world. Stay awake, alert and engaged with your experience in an open and accepting way…..
Permission slip for ____________________________________________________________
I give myself permission to create anything, with passion, enjoy the process, not have a plan. Explore. Learn. Discover. Relax. Mess up. Start again.
