“Creativity is not just for artists. It’s for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it’s for engineers trying to solve a problem; it’s for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.” ~Twyla Tharp, author of The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life
Twenty plus years ago, I went through a graduate program to earn an M.A. in Creation Spirituality. The premise of much of the curriculum was that if you believe in some kind of greater creative force, then you will be your truest self and closest to that source when you are being creative.
One of the daily practices we were encouraged to foster during the program was art-as-meditation, to do something creative each day (e.g. make music, sing, dance, write, paint, draw, take photos, mold clay) without focusing on the product, only the process. I was pretty regular with my art-as-meditation practice while I was in school and for a little while afterwards, and then it fell away.
Lately, I’ve found myself focusing Focusing FOCUSING on getting from A to Z in certain areas of my life and feeling extremely frustrated when either 1. things go from A to J to F, or 2. it seems like nothing is happening. As I’ve continued with pushing my metaphorical boulder up a hill, the idea of an art-as-meditation practice keeps popping up.
I even recommended it to someone else. Classic. It’s so much easier to give other people the advice you need to take yourself! Clearly, I need to spend a little time each day being comfortable with the uncertainty, lack of linear thinking and chaos that being creative can bring.
If you’re interested in trying an art-as-meditation practice, it’s fairly simple to do:
- Set aside time each day (5-20 minutes).
- During that time, create in whatever way moves you without focusing on the product, just the process.
- Don’t judge what you create.
- Social media didn’t exist 20 years ago, so I would add, refrain from sharing what you create on social media so that you don’t set yourself up to be judged by someone else either.
The process is easy. The challenge is committing to make space each day for the unknown.
“All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. The big art is our life. “~ M.C. Richards, author of Centering in Pottery, Poetry, and the Person
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Photos by me.
