Creativity and our Connection with the Universal Mind

Creativity is an interesting thing because nobody can really tell another person how to be creative. Many people have told me that they are not creative at all, but I don’t believe them. Some people express their creativity more than others, while many people prefer to think of themselves as analytical thinkers. But all of us have creative imagination as well as the ability to think logically. I think that creativity is intrinsically a part of every human being as much as the capacity to love.

Many people don’t develop their creative faculty, or they lose touch with it because they are not encouraged to use it. Although I have always written poetry and/or kept a journal, I put less effort into it in the time when my office job consumed most of my time and energy. The most useful advice I got to help me actually start writing fiction, something I had dreamed of doing for 14 years before I started, was from reading interviews with established authors like Neil Gaiman and Paulo Coelho. I learned that an author doesn’t need to have everything exactly worked out before starting to write, and that the unconscious is a valuable tool. Having gathered enough courage and filled to the brim with frustration with my circumstances, I started writing without really knowing what I was doing. What emerged was at times unexpected, and it intrigued me.

The creative process is fluid, and reflecting on it I cannot say that I truly know what the relationship between me, the story and the characters is. I used to think that an author invented a story, and for me the idea was a barrier as I felt that it was too difficult to think of something as brilliant as some of the stories I have read. Things changed when I asked for a story, and met the characters in another realm, and asked them to tell me their story. In that way, something sincere started to unfold. Rather than achieving something, I felt that my first novel, In Search of the Golden City, was a journey through which I learned a lot about myself and my personal path. The creative process is all the more spell-binding when I work with it even though I don’t understand it.

Through creativity I feel a connection with the universe, and this brings to mind the mysterious Source of everything we know. The idea of the universe as a creation has been in dispute by mainstream religion and mainstream science, as if our human minds could know the answers to something as profound and impenetrable as universal origins. I have at times felt that talking about “creation” is heretical in the eyes of supporters of the science paradigm, because it presupposes the idea of an intelligent force behind everything. To some people it smacks of religious dogma, and to combat it, they would rather embrace the idea of an accident without purpose. Religious and scientific dogma aside, I do feel that there is a Creative Source that I am sometimes more in touch with than others, and that magic and healing start happening through communion with this Source.

As an artist, when I create something, it doesn’t always come out as planned. What I create has a will of its own, and the process is most powerful when I allow that will to come through me. In that sense, I don’t feel like a creator at all, rather an instrument. Although my characters are sometimes in conflict with one another, they are part of the same story, and they learn from one another since each expresses an aspect of something that is buried within me.

Suppose then, we wove our own stories through the universe as a work of art, what would our relationship with the Creator be? I think that question is as open for interpretation as the one of what my relationship with the characters in the stories I write is. In my opinion, the conventional idea of intelligent design falls short when it advocates a creator that made the universe a long time ago but is essentially separate from it. The idea of accident without purpose doesn’t ring true either. Without pretending to know anything, I could imagine that we are all part of the same dream, and that each person or thing is an aspect of the dream. As we live, we could strive towards creating bright, powerful stories with the full magic of being a facet of a glorious and unfathomable dream. Or we could play a part in a dull story directed by those who deny the spectacular life force, if we believe in their power rather than our own.

The Doorway to the Universe

Science tells us that the universe started 13.8 billion years ago with a Big Bang and is in a state of continuous expansion. Nowadays there is also the Multiverse theory, which states that different universes are possible. The former tries to understand our place in the universe by looking at the past, supposing that the process of creation (or the beginning of everything) is complete. Interestingly, both science (as with the Big Bang theory) and religion (as in the Biblical creation myth), often vehemently opposed to one another, adopt this point of view. The Multiverse theory to me offers a view that I can relate to. In the mystery of life I can be open to the idea that all is created and destroyed unremittingly. We are part of the universe and through our choices we participate in the creation of our own worlds.

In the hassles of daily life I often feel disconnected from the Source that connects everything. In special moments the universe comes alive and I can commune with the Centre where parallel worlds meet. In that place, Creation is contained in every moment and everything. When theory and instruction fail to open the doorway to the universe, I find that sincerity is the most useful tool. Through genuine intent, the individual heart opens to the Heart of everything and potential comes to light. Sincerity entails communicating with the truth of one’s being, whether it is desirable or not. Through embracing all aspects of the self, we come closest to our own known universe. In that honest space, the external universe does not hide from our eyes either.

Sincerity takes us to a place outside of time and space where experience matters. In this way, memories of our common origins with all known things are activated.

A (Slightly Different) View on Manifestation

I have never really bought into the whole new age hype about manifestation. Surely if it were that simple then everyone would get what they wanted and there would be no problems, right? On the other hand I know that there is some truth to it. I cannot help noticing how often it happens that people get exactly what they asked for. Whether that makes them happy or not is a different matter. I’ll share some of my own experiences and also consider how I think manifestation can be used for real benefit.

As a child I remember going to church and reading in the Bible that we could ask for anything and it would be given. At other times I was told that God could answer in one of three possible ways: yes, no or later. In a way I think both views are curiously true in their own way. However I’m still not the master of life and neither is anyone else I know by the looks of it.

When I was about ten years old, I fervently prayed for something. I resolved to have faith that it would show up, regardless of how impossible it seemed. About ten years later it did, but by that time it was completely meaningless to me. I couldn’t help marvelling at the extraordinary way in which the “thing” eventually made its way to me. As a teenager I also had a deep wish which I prayed would come to fruition. A few years later something along those lines (which was about what I could expect seeing that my prayer was sufficiently vague) played out. Needless to say, it wasn’t half of what I expected it to be.

At some point I gave up asking for things because it felt to me that it was no use – I never got what I wanted anyway. That wasn’t entirely true. I often got what I wanted on a physical level but with the inner experience of something still missing. When I honestly didn’t get what I wanted I ended up noticing that either there was a delay or I have outgrown that which I desired. By the looks of it, my subconscious mind was a step ahead of me. It contrived in helping me get what I actually wanted: the feeling of being whole and sufficient as I was without the need of something outside myself to feel complete. When that wasn’t the case, it didn’t help much asking for something when I wasn’t open to receive it. Once you notice that you are defensive, afraid to be open to good things coming your way, you realise that you have been the one dictating your reality all along.

On a very practical level, when we work for something and it comes to fruition, that is also manifestation. There is nothing supernatural about it. When it doesn’t materialise, I believe we have the option to give up and try something more worthwhile on one hand or persevere on the other. Perhaps it’s the Universe’s way of testing our resolve and asking us to reconsider what is really important.

I don’t think manifestation can be simplified to become the easy answer to all our problems. There is still the larger context of our relationship with life and how we define ourselves. Personally I think the key is in realising that we are manifesting anyway. What we believe in gains power and dictates our reality. Knowing this, we could ask ourselves what we deem important enough to want to bring into this world.

Embracing the Unknown

Something interesting happens when we set out in search of truth. At first we discover that we think differently to the rest of the world. When we are in conflict with the world, it’s quite hard to figure out who is right and who is wrong. I don’t mean this in the judgemental sense of the word, but rather who is closer to the truth. I find that when my views are very different from the rest of the world and I feel conflicted about it, I oscillate between thinking that I am for sure right on one hand or on the other that I am completely clueless and the world has to be right.

If I look closely at my need to be right, it looks like I have to justify the path I have chosen by proving that my way is better. Thinking of it that way, it seems to me that I don’t have faith in my chosen path. It’s when I take another step back that I realise it’s perfectly OK to be uncertain, to feel down at times or to get stuck occasionally. The further I go, the more I realise that I’m not here to master anything but rather to be myself and live my life. Moving to wholeness is about accepting the light and the darkness within me, not about denying an aspect of myself that would re-surface somewhere else. It’s in the imperfect moments that the door opens for love to flow in and shed some light.

The magic most often happens when I’m at a dead end. I embarked on the path that I’m on in an effort to seek healing for myself and others. Yet in some way it feels that I didn’t have much of a choice – the pull from my subconscious mind to live authentically was too strong. I started out thinking that I would, as so many others who have gone before me, get to a place where I am better, more whole, more in control. The truth is that as I move along, I am faced with more uncertainty. The closer I come to the “truth”, the more often I am confronted with the void of meaninglessness and existential despair. Far from being more sorted out than when I started, I have come to accept the fact that I will never “get there”. Because of that, I have a greater appreciation of the small things in life. Accepting my human struggles brings me closer to the in between space where happiness comes from, the space of nothingness where the Universe truly communicates with me.

Acknowledging that one doesn’t know is the place where miracles are born. It is the point at which one is ready to experience something new. It is in the moments we don’t understand that our eyes really open up to the wonder of the universe, enabling us to experience life as a blessing.

How to Handle Rejection

Everyone has to face rejection at some point or another. Recently I have faced quite a few rejections in a row, which could be discouraging. They weren’t unexpected at all in the context of either limited resources or a very small likelihood for success. Nevertheless, the first few put me down rather badly. The last two or three were still gloomy but I rebounded faster.

I talked to other people about my plans and told them that I expected rejection.  I was told that I shouldn’t be negative, but the wisest person told me just to persevere. Interestingly I feel that being more comfortable with rejection is not an indication of low self-esteem or accepting defeat – quite the opposite actually. My attitude to rejection is changing the more I believe that miracles are possible and that I could leave my desires to the Universe to manifest. Rather than seeing rejections as a barrier, I choose to see them as an opportunity for building self-confidence and finding my path in life.

The word rejection doesn’t sit well with most people. I have sometimes found that I’m almost afraid to read or contemplate the word for fear that it would imprint itself on my mind and manifest in my reality. Yet pushing the word below the surface doesn’t help. The things that come from our subconscious mind that are less than nice to behold can best be healed by calling them out from the shadows. When one takes a proper look at them, they cease to be a threat. So rejection also asks us to confront it full on, without fear. When seen in the light, its guise can easily change from a monster in various hues of menace to an angel that beckons opportunity, illuminating the ways of trust and faith as viable options.

When looking at it closely, rejection means that someone doesn’t want us, they think we’re not good enough or they’re just not interested in what we have to offer. Looking at all my past rejections it was the defeat perhaps more than anything else that I had to overcome. The only way to overcome the urge to give up is to get up from the dust and try again. When I look at the rejections in themselves though I cannot think of any instance in which I can truly say that what I wanted was better than what I eventually got. Fair enough, I couldn’t pursue the paths where the doors closed for me. Yet my resolve and self-belief were tested and I came out stronger on the other side, rendering the closed doors a gift.

When one gets rejected the question to ask is whether one wants to internalise the world’s standards as one’s own. The alternative is to be the one to define the standards, believe in them and bring them into the world. You might not convert everyone but you would convert a few. In the end the worst thing you could do is play along with someone else’s game just to maintain their approval. It would eventually become draining, if not disempowering.

In instances where one actually has to play the world’s game, rejection could mean that you just aren’t good enough yet. In which case you have the opportunity to persevere, improve and try again. If you lose interest then it wasn’t the road for you and the right one would show itself if you keep walking and maintain a positive attitude.

Rejection tests our self-belief. It entices us to ask the questions of how we would like to define our success and how we want to be loved. If the answer boils down to being ourselves then we return to the treasure within and we know where to find our power.

Rejection doesn’t mean failure. The only failure would be to cease trying. Where we apply our efforts with love, success is guaranteed. If I had to measure my self-worth according to what others thought of me (positive or negative) then I would have missed the point – success and acceptance would lose their meaning.

In pursuit of our dreams the true magic happens when we start trusting that the right things will come about in their own way and time. Although we might not always understand what’s going on, our path will be paved if we keep walking. There is nothing better we could do than be true to ourselves and continue in pursuit of our heart’s desires. Rather than always yearning for something better, we show our gratitude to the Universe by accepting what we have, knowing it’s what is best for us. In this way we bring more good things into our life. Surrendering to a will higher than our own is the fastest way to transform limitations into opportunity.

We Are From the Earth

I read this today via a community healing page that I follow on Facebook. It connects with something my teacher of shamanism posted earlier this week suggesting that we are all made of the same organic matter and therefore not as special as we might think.

Whenever people ask me what I really want to do with my life, I just talk around it, saying I’m “more interested in the arts” or I “want to do some form of therapeutic work but not traditional psychology any more”. How can I tell them that I want to work with the earth’s energies, that I feel her vibrations talking to me on a level that is beyond the mundane? How can I tell them about this invisible world that I always perceive behind the veil, subtle and yet so powerful that it makes daily life as we know it seem completely futile? I cannot and I don’t, unless they can perceive what I see.

I was raised Christian and it made me think of a verse in the Bible in Ecclesiastes: we are all dust and to dust we shall return. I never understood this verse as a child (like many other things in the Bible) and I found it very depressing. This week everything came together beautifully. The message I get is that I shouldn’t be ashamed of being in touch with the organism that we live on. Maybe it is not so absurd after all that I feel her flowing through my veins. It is perhaps more senseless to think that she is a dead piece of matter, only useful for providing us with food and stability so we can maintain our position at the “apex of creation”.

We have lived close to nature for millennia. Being in touch with our imagination and the organism we live on was an integral part of our survival. Economy and civilisation as we know it are still very new compared to our ages old spiritual traditions. Yet they have become the gods of today – different, duller, unimaginative gods but gods nevertheless.

Maybe the writer of Ecclesiastes understood that the earth and everything on it is sacred and that the same life force flows through all of us. There is an entire Universe that is far too large for us to fathom. How unimaginably massive is that compared to our little structures of meaning.