Creativity, Self-Expression and Spirituality : An Aligned Perspective

“Creativity is God’s gift to us and using our creativity is our gift back to God.”- Julia Cameron

Three years ago, while I was spending time with my nephew, I saw him drawing the Indian Flag in his drawing book as part of his school Independence Day project. He didn’t use a scale to make straight lines for the flag as most of us have always been taught in schools; instead, he made it more free- flowing.

I could notice the spark and excitement in his eyes when he showed the final picture of the flag to his mother. The mother responded, ‘Oh, why didn’t you use the scale? Now your teacher will not give you full marks for the project’.

After pausing for a few seconds, the child replied, ‘But Mom, I have drawn a hoisted flag waving in the air. It can’t be straight. The teacher asked us to make the flag. Here is the flag. Shall I make the straight one so that I get good marks?’

I was amazed by the innocence, timeless lesson and untapped wisdom that the child held.

For the child, the lens to perceive, imagine and express was clear.

For the parent, the lens of perception was distorted.

It is this distortion that our parents, teachers, ways of education, societal norms and culture pass onto us unknowingly. My intention here is not to blame any of them but to inculcate responsibility of self-reflection, inner inquiry and healthy questioning.

We have all gone through various instances in which our natural perception of creativity was fogged, either in childhood or during our creative journey. Here are a few examples that I grew up with and believed in for a long time until I started recovering my creative self. Creativity comes to the chosen ones. Only a few people can afford to live a creative life. For you to be creative, you need to suffer. Creativity is a luxury. Creativity is just a pastime or hobby. There is a particular age to pursue creative interests. Creativity is wasting time if it is not bringing money. A successful artist is just lucky.

The list can go on. I realized that such statements slowly become our beliefs and we begin to accept them as true. In reality, however, they are nothing but limited beliefs that prevent us from stepping into our true creative nature, ultimately keeping us from exploring our Highest Potential.

What do these limitations do? They inhibit one’s natural expression.

For the child, creativity is the natural order and outer expression of that creativity comes effortlessly. The child does not care about making mistakes, loves to experiment and have fun. The child is naturally in alignment with the vital life force which is purely creative energy. As a result, the child is in constant touch with the godliness within. There is less of mind and more of spirit. As we grow up, we forget our divinity and lose touch with the creative nature which is present in all of us.

If you are someone who is trying to recover her creative self, just like me, connect to the child within you. The child knows what the heart wants and has the courage to follow it. Hermann Hesse in his popular book Siddhartha says, ‘I have had to experience so much stupidity, so many vices, so much error, so much nausea, disillusionment and sorrow, just in order to be a child again and begin anew.’

We all are born creatives. We come from the ‘Creator’. We are a part of this world that we call ‘Creation’. The process through which we come here is ‘Creative’. There are infinite ways through which the Creation is constantly ‘Creating’. This, by definition, makes all of us ‘Creative Beings’. What we do and how we use this creativity is our Self-Expression. Self-Expression is our essence externalised. There are as many expressions as there are individuals on this planet. Every expression is one’s USP. You are born with it, it stays with you throughout your life and you die with it. The only difference is it can either be active or dormant. Most people die without experiencing what it feels like to channel and express one’s creativity. Many artists also struggle with what I call ‘Inhibited Expression’ - an expression with if’s and but’s, do’s and do-not’s, should and shouldn't. Fear and Beliefs take over the Natural Expression. They are not in 100% alignment with their expression. Had it been so, there would be no difference between the creativity, the creator and the creation. The Irish poet W.B. Yeats has beautifully put out in his poem ‘How can we know the dancer from the dance?’ There is nothing more spiritual than experiencing the union of dance, the dancer and the Source through which the dance flows. Please replace ‘dance’ here with your own creative expression.

This is the ‘spirituality’ that I referred to in the title. The very act of creating invites spirit to take over. No matter who you are and where you are in your creative journey, if you can see your creativity as your ‘Sadhana’, it will open up dimensions within and outside of you that you never knew existed. It will slowly rip off all the fears, limited belief systems, conditioning, patterns, lack mindset and self-doubt.

Let me explain this using the analogy of a writer.

For a writer, showing up to his/her desk is like showing up on a meditation mat. Writing becomes a form of open eye meditation where the writer allows oneself to plug into the divine library and receive. The room or the environment in which the writer is writing becomes the temple. Turning the phone off, having a glass of water nearby, and setting an intention all become the writer’s rituals. The act of opening the notebook/laptop is an invitation to have a dialogue with the divine. The pen or keyboard becomes a tool of prayer. The words as they flow through the writer come from a ‘no-thought’ space. The writer becomes the medium through which the words are being channelised. The writer becomes the instrument of God’s will and God’s work. If our creative endeavours are not spiritual, tell me what else is. When we put our heart and soul into your creative project with the right intentions and full consciousness, the process itself feels like a communion with God.

In the Yoga Sutras there are four major spiritual paths: Karma (selfless action), Kriya , Gyana (knowledge and wisdom) and Bhakti (love and devotion) that leads humans to self-realization. To me, all creative expressions embody these four paths.

The act of writing done without a sense of individual doer-ship is the Karma; with right focus, concentration and consciousness it becomes the Kriya. Every learning/research that goes behind in creating a piece is the Gyana and every ounce of dedication and surrender offered without a fixed agenda or outcome in mind is the Bhakti. You become a living yogi while ‘creating.’

All creative expressions also hold within the four Purusharthas- Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksh as mentioned in the Hindu philosophy for the material and spiritual upliftment of a being.

When you do what you are meant to do with the right intentions, you follow the path of -Dharma. When a writer trusts his calling, listens to the heart, comes from the space of love, excitement & flow, nurtures the idea received and puts it into words, he follows his Dharma.

With inner alignment everything becomes an offering to the world that surely gets rewarded and comes back to you multifold in the form of money and abundance- Artha. Without attaching a particular outcome, the writer gifts the book to the world. Money becomes a byproduct of the offering; it has no way but to come to the writer.

With success and money you enjoy the comfort and pleasures of life- Kama. All the pleasures of success, fame and recognition further ignite the writer’s inner fire. The passion gets fueled up to write more. Ideas start flooding. The Universe rewards ample resources and opportunities for the vision to get fulfilled.

With awareness and understanding, you turn inward to prepare for the final part of life journey Moksha

When a writer devotes his/her life to the purpose, a sense of deep inner fulfilment prevails. This is the state of true inner freedom leading to the Inner Moksha. In this state, the writer and the writing is One.

Only if you are in conscious touch with your inner world, can you experience these stages within you. All the four aspects are Paths of God. Both material and spiritual are Paths of God. Your entire creative journey is the Path of God. Your Self-Expression is the Path of God.

Your Inner Artist knows the way. It has the compass to maneuver the path. It is already in touch with God. Connect to it. Listen to it. Follow what it has to say. Do what your passion guides you toward. As Neale Donald Walsh writes in his book Conversations with God- ‘Passion is God wanting to say Hi’. Respond back to the ‘Hi’. If there is anything that you came here to do is to ‘Create’. You are creating every single moment- new cells, choices, decisions with or without awareness. Why not do it intentionally? Make it your daily ritual to create something just out of awe and wonder like a child, be in the state of passion and not attach any outcome to what you are creating. Just like God doesn’t judge any of his creations, don’t judge your creation. Your creation is purely a work of God. See it from the eyes of God and all you will have is love & gratitude in your eyes.

Your Creation is an offering of God, by God and for God.

It’s my wish that every human being on the planet gets to live and experience a creative life based on the Highest Truth of who they are !

"या कुन्देन्दुतषार ु हार धवला या शभ्रवस्त्राव ु ता। ृ या वीणावरदण्डमण्डितकरा या श्वेतपद्मासना॥ या ब्रह्माच्यतु शंकरप्रभतिृ भिर्देवःै सदा पजिू ता। सा मांपातुसरस्वती भगवती निःशषे जाड्यापहा॥"

Maa Saraswati Blessings for all.

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