Helping your creativity to breathe
For thousands of years, people have used the I Ching (a system of divination) to connect with another way of knowing—a guiding spirit known as the Way or Tao. In Stephen Karcher's book "Total I Ching: Myths for Change," the 64 figures or symbols known as a hexagram (one way of connecting with the Way) have two perspectives to help in their interpretation: one from the Scholar and another from the Shaman.
Inspired by this idea of two responses, I've chosen the view points of the Coach and the Artist to explore what happens when we've squeezed our creativity into the smallest of spaces, and how we might help it breathe again.
From the Coach - one way to be with creative resistance/block
Recognise that you want to do something creative but there’s some resistance / block
Sit with the “resistance” (you may want to have a physical representation of the feeling or thought that’s holding you back that you can hold/touch, such as an item on your desk or in your room, or you might want to do a quick sketch/diagram)
Ask yourself “How is this block/resistance serving you ? How is it limiting you?”
Notice if your responses affect your breath / your body / your emotions.
Ask yourself “How would things be different if this block wasn’t there?”
Notice if your responses affect your breath / your body / your emotions
How would that that impact your life?
Notice if your responses affect your breath / your body / your emotions
Are there any surprises in what you’ve noticed?
Could there be one small action you would want to take today or tomorrow with the insight you may have gained from asking yourself those questions?
If you believed that that one small action could impact your life, what would that look like?
Who could you share that insight /small action with, that’s on your side?
(if you’re struggling to answer the last question, then tell me, I’ll be on your side)
From the Artist -
When we have long forgotten the delights of rubbing crayons on paper and trailing painted hands over walls, the space that held our most tender dream fills with darkness and swirling smoke. Starving our souls of the freedom to glide on creativity’s gentle breezes we stuff our bellies on criticism, judgement and comparison feeding worms of doubt, fear and bravado. We cite imagined shortcomings, days too filled with the mundane to experiment with something that could bring joy, and use our conveyer belt of productivity as a defence against the calling of the unchartered horizon.
Yet in this labyrinth of creative confusion and emptiness, there is an escape route. Be still, listen and wait for darkness to reveal itself. Allow curiosity to light the way; What truth lies beneath these shadows? What ancient burdens have been carried for too long, that now deserve their freedom?
Our imagination is both blessing and curse. Like mighty rivers it carries dreams and terrors in its flow. When night terrors grip us, leaving our sheets damp with fear, we understand its power.
I know its power, the devastation that it can leave stranded at my feet. When I tell myself I can’t draw, can’t paint, that perspective will forever elude my grasp, my very bones absorb this untruth. This discomfort becomes a cage, and like a bird too long confined, I refuse to spread my wings - neither creating, nor painting, nor learning.
My refuge, when my creativity is suffocating, comes from the words of John Garrie Roshi, singing to my spirit, reminding me to cradle my imagination with tender hands.
Peace to all beings
Whether near or far
Whether known or unknown
Visible or invisible
Real or imaginary
Born or yet to be born
May all beings be well and happy
And free from fear
Peace to all beings
Within and beyond the imagination
In the world of ideas
In the world of memories
And in the world of dreams
Peace to all beings
The teachings of John Garrie Röshi - The Way is without flaw
I embrace these words as a balm for my wounded spirit. Instead of wielding self-criticism like a whip, I sit with my tea, engaging my imagination in gentle dialogue: "Speak to me of your fears. Tell me your truths. Are they real as rain, or phantom as mist?" "Dearest, what serves you better - dwelling in doubt or dancing with your destiny?" Both the swift kick of truth and the slow unfurling of understanding have their place. I persist through cups of amber comfort until lightness returns, until my body remembers its dance, until the paintbrush no longer feels like a stranger in my hand.
The darkness offers me gifts of knowing: knowing that by giving my imagination space to breathe, by treating it with the patience and kindness it deserves, I've found my peace with creating. Yes, my imagination remains wild as a spring wind, capable of stirring up a tsunami. But where once I cowered from its power, now I stand tall, arms wide, and declare, "Come, demons of doubt - show me what you've got!"
In this wild dance with our creative essence, we can stand tall like ancient trees, our roots drinking deep from wells of curiosity and kindness that do more than nourish us - they transform us from the depths of yearning. When we approach our artistic soul with the wonder of a child's delight, whispering "what if?" like a prayer instead of shackling ourselves with "I can't," we break chains that have bound us.
Our spirits rise like birds at dawn, wings spread wide against fear's shadows. We rekindle the pure joy of creating without expectations, of dancing our dreams across empty pages. Our creative spirit, no longer bent beneath judgment's heavy hand, rises fierce and free, painting life with colours stolen from rainbows, writing stories that echo with the thunder of our truth.