By Kristy McCaffrey
When I was in the final stages of completing my third book, I had a strong sense of
cultivation, as if I were gardening. As I strove to refine the story and add
more details that would, hopefully, enliven the tale more deeply, I could
literally feel the soft, sweet, moist earth fall through my fingers as I scooped
it up and packed it into the world I'd created. In moments like these, the
creative life fully connects with ordinary reality. It's why painters paint,
sculptors sculpt, and writers write. It's why we, as humans, create. We want to
bring meaning to our lives, and art—in any form—presents an outlet for us to
express this yearning.
We all create, whether you label yourself an artist or not.
Decorating your home, landscaping your yard, crafting long letters to friends
and family—all are forms of self-expression, a deeply-rooted desire present in
all of us.
Artmaking is making
the invisible, visible. ~ Marcel Duchamp
Studies have shown that activities such as writing, drawing
and even knitting reduce stress and increase serotonin levels. A UCLA study
found that when young people engaged in artistic pursuits from a young age,
they outperformed their peers in categories ranging from academics to life
skills.
Cross-cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien states that in
many traditional cultures, a healer will ask an ill person four questions: When
did you stop singing? When did you stop dancing? When did you stop telling your
story? When did you stop sitting in silence?
We need our creativity to survive. And we need to move through our creativity ourselves.
Education is an
admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that
is worth knowing can be taught. ~ Oscar Wilde
In this series on Creativity, I'll be discussing the
following, each in a separate post:
I. Imagination
II. Domestication
vs. Wildness
III. Shape-Shifting
IV. Forbearance
V. Maiden/Mother/Crone
VI. The Virgin and
the Sacred Prostitute
VII. Synchronicity
VIII. Magic
Part I: Imagination
Imagination is when you step outside of time. I've often
thought that imagination is less something we
create and more something we tap into.
As a fiction writer, I most definitely conjure ideas and make-believe people to
fill the pages of my stories. Or do I?
I wrote my very first novel based on an idea that came to me when I was 15 years old.
It was at that time I first became acquainted with my heroine.
Years later, as I drove cross-country with my mother and sister—a
leaving-the-nest move from Phoenix to Pittsburgh—we pulled off at a rest stop
outside of Amarillo. It was a desolate place, with wide-open sky and the
endless flat expanse of the Texas Panhandle. And that's when I felt her,
standing in the tall grass, watching me. My heroine. And she was whispering to me.
I was about 22 years old at the time. I didn't write that book until I was 33, but in that moment it was as if the character breathed her spirit
into mine. It's been said that stories
chase the right person to tell it. So, perhaps imagination is less an activity of
making something up and more
a sense of remembering.
How might you trigger this remembering?
Playing. Children know it, and animals do as
well. When children play, they follow their innate talents. It simply doesn’t
occur for them not to. Playing is any
activity that disengages the rational mind—for some it may be sports, or
sewing, or playing a musical instrument. As adults, we often encapsulate play
into vacations, but it should really be present each day. How can you add more
play to your day? Think about it, and then let go and just have fun.
A Labrador retriever
plays through its lifetime and dies a child. ~ Dr. Stuart Brown
Dreams. Whatever your personal beliefs about
dreams, and why we have them, there is nothing better at shining a spotlight
into your life than your dreams. The key is learning to work
with the imagery. Renowned dream archaeologist Robert Moss suggests keeping a
dream journal to begin understanding the messages relayed. Working with dreams
isn’t a passive endeavor. Everything around us is alive with meaning; all you
have to do is pay attention. For further guidance, read Moss's Active Dreaming—Journeying Beyond
Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom (New World Library, 2011). If
you’re still not certain that there’s something to be gained from this dreaming
thing, check out his book The Secret
History of Dreaming (New World Library, 2009) in which he elaborates on the
dream lives of Joan of Arc, Mark Twain, and Winston Churchill.
In dreams begin
responsibilities. ~ William Butler Yeats
Solitude. Numerous studies tout the benefits of
meditation, but even if you can’t quiet your mind enough for a deep practice,
time alone can trigger a rush of ideas, from planning dinner parties to writing
a book. Immersing yourself in the words of others can offer additional
stimulus. Perhaps you’re inspired by perusing the latest fictional tale, or
devouring Deepak Chopra, or quietly absorbing passages from the Bible. Or
perhaps soothing music does the trick, or a hot bath and candles. A practice of
daily solitude will fine-tune your access to imagination.
To pay attention, this
is our endless and proper work. ~ Mary Oliver
Imagination is the act of creating new ideas. The key is
learning to open the floodgates within the mind that can hold it back. Playing,
dreams, and solitude are three ways to allow the remembering to enter your life.
Don’t miss Part II in the Creativity series: Domestication
vs. Wildness
Until next month…
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