CREATIVE PROCESS CONSULTS – EXPLORING THE MYSTERIOUS SPACES OF YOUR MIND
When poet Amy Lowell was asked how she makes a poem, she responded: “My instinctive answer is a flat ‘I don’t know’… All I can confidently assert from my own experience is [poetry is not born of] a day-dream but an entirely different psychic state and one peculiar to itself…fed by, and feeding, a non-resisting consciousness.” (From “The Process of Making Poetry”.)
When Amy Lowell said the art of making poetry comes from a psychic state peculiar to itself, she refers to the mysterious womb of the creative experience. How can you find the enigmatic inner sanctuary where an inspired idea lies sleeping? Is it so deeply mysterious it is available only to the privileged few? Fortunately, no. Creative thought is implicit to human beings; it makes our lives worth living and the process of getting to the inner sanctuary makes our lives exciting. When you know how to focus your attention without reservation and to be in a receptive state of repose, ideas will enter your “non-resisting consciousness” with ease.
When we meet for a creative consultation, you will tell me what you want to attain and, as well as you can, what is eclipsing your ability to succeed. After we start to see your situation clearly, we will set goals and your journey will begin.
Over the course of your consultation process, you will learn to:
• Focus your attention without reservation by learning to sit in a state of silence.
• Allow your senses to be absorbed in a place where there are no words; where the embryo of an idea lies hidden.
• Gently encourage the idea to be born into consciousness under the warmth of your invitation.
• Locate the inner dimensions of the emerging idea, discovering where its power lies.
Depending upon your unique process, there are a few ways to uncover the inner dimensions of your idea. Speaking generally however, the real power of an idea is profoundly subtle and resonates in your belly, not in your brain. The main issue is to get out of the way and allow the work to tell you what it wants to say. When the artist is absent, the art appears.
WHAT IS CREATIVE PROCESS?
The creative process is unique to each person, but we all share common elements. Here is a brief paraphrasing of Carl Jung’s observation on creativity:
Creative Instinct:
When the creative process begins there are no words or images because the initial stirrings of thought lie in the primal, instinctual region of the unconscious. There are however, physical and emotional cues in the body that signal an idea is forming: sensations of dissatisfaction and irritability, a sadness or depression as the energy of the idea struggles to release itself. Some time later, the joyful desire to express is accompanied by flashes of insight and there is exquisite physical and emotional pain just before birthing a glimmer of thought into consciousness.
Creative Imagination:
The glimmer of thought flutters into consciousness as a matrix that contains its own destiny. To activate the matrix, some people meditate, some dance or go for long walks, some sleep and dream, some fall into a mild depression, some listen to music, some tinker with mechanical objects or models. Whatever your preferred way of centering attention, one thing remains constant: the mind needs to unfurl and relax. It engages in associative play and logical connections are made as the matrix of thought opens.
In the meantime, the body also seeks balance. It wants this food and not that, this amount – no more or less. It needs this many hours of sleep, no more or less. Most often silence is required and always – the person needs to feel physically safe. For many people, the successful emergence of creative thought is poised very delicately on the balanced convergence of instinct, thought, and body.
Creative Achievement:
Incentive and attitude are necessary to accomplish the next stage of the creative process. These attributes contain: a strong desire for knowledge; a mastery of materials; and a diligence that accompanies the satisfaction of bringing the thought into form. Confident expression of the idea occurs without struggle or fear when there is no aggression toward oneself or others. With an attitude of unselfconscious directness there is no need to impress others. Instead, the work will move into the world with clarity of thought and expression.