Creativity (An 8-Part Series): Part VII - Synchronicity

By Kristy McCaffrey

Don't miss

Part I   - Imagination

Part II  - Domestication vs. Wildness
Part III - Shape-Shifting

Part IV - Forbearance
Part V  - Maiden/Mother/Crone
Part VI - The Virgin and the Sacred Prostitute

Synchronicity is a meaningful convergence of inner and outer experiences. Carl Jung coined the word synchronicity to describe the profound significance of coincidence in our lives. Author Sera Beak describes them as 'Divine winks'. Poets and mystics speak of it when they say, "As above, so below." The world is a playground in which to bring forth ideas from the other, known by many names—heaven, inspiration, God, inner self. Creative flow is unlocked when we navigate the world via coincidence.

The world is alive around you, responding to your thoughts and intentions, with none other than synchronicity. In creative endeavors, this can lead to the right path if you can trust in the process. I've experienced this in my fiction writing. The sooner I can focus my story, the better, because then pertinent information seems to flow toward me from all directions. The key, of course, is to be open to the method. Sometimes, the material isn't what I thought it should be. In resisting, I often come up frustrated and empty-handed.

I encountered synchronicity while writing this series on creativity. (Along with a fair number of bird feathers appearing at every turn, a sign I took to mean I was on the right path and the muses were happy with me.) At first, I had an ambitious idea to write about the creative process. I had no idea where to start. I've read so many wonderful books relating to this, but how was I going to compress this into something usable and short? The first step was to take a leap of faith.

And to practice that faith again, and again, and again. I didn't know all the answers, but as I moved forward with intention, the material came to me, either sprouting directly into my mind (the whispers of angels, as some would say) or through a book I came across, or a conversation with someone, or a link I found on social media. The key is to begin moving. Remaining still slows the process. The avenues for synchronicity are endless. And to those who say they don't happen to them—you're simply not paying attention. They happen everywhere, and everywhen.

Be open. Compartmentalizing life can cut the flow of symbolic relations from finding you. Learning can happen at any time, not when you deem it time.

Works Cited

Beak, Sera. Red Hot & Holy: A Heretic's Love Story. Sounds True, Inc., 2013.

Moss, Robert. The Three "Only" Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence & Imagination. New World Library, 2007.

Don’t miss Part VIII in the Creativity series: Magic

Until next time…

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Story Archaeology

By Kristy McCaffrey

How do writers find their stories?

The great mythologist Joseph Campbell stated in The Hero With A Thousand Faces: “Throughout the inhabited world, in all times and under every circumstance, the myths of man have flourished; and they have been the living inspiration of whatever else may have appeared out of the activities of the human body and mind.”

Stories live within us, whether we acknowledge them or not. A writer’s job is to excavate this terrain and bring it forth into the world. The act of experiencing a well-told tale, via a novel or a film or a bedtime story, will activate this internal landscape, sparking a recognition deep in the psyche.

A writer uses any number of tools at his or her disposal—intuition, dreams, research, imagination. Shaman and dream archaeologist Robert Moss says that stories are hunting for the right person to tell them. If a story is pressing on you to be told, and you ignore the call, the narrative will find another outlet for expression. This has often been called an artist’s muse, and many a writer has lamented when their source of inspiration has left them.

How to invite the stargazer, the fantasizer, the daydreamer to remain close? In Women Who Run With The Wolves, Jungian psychologist Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes says that (for women) the Wild Woman is necessary for all that is needed and known. Wild Woman is a vehicle to our instinctual nature, bringing us close to the wild terrain of our most primitive self.

“It means to establish territory, to find one’s pack, to be in one’s body with certainty and pride regardless of the body’s gifts and limitations, to speak and act in one’s behalf, to be aware, alert, to draw on the innate feminine powers of intuition and sensing, to come into one’s cycles, to find what one belongs to, to rise with dignity, to retain as much consciousness as we can.”

One way to excavate is through story collecting, an excellent device to fill the creative coffers. The more story bones acquired, the more tools that are at hand in creating the ‘whole’ story.

Natalie Goldberg, in Writing Down The Bones, offers other ideas: carry a notebook with you at all times, practice timed writing with no editing (first thoughts aren’t controlled by the ego), write consistently to strengthen the storytelling muscle.

But anything we do fully, we do alone. This is especially true with writing. And while writing for others can be motivating, while story hunting may be fueled by the desire for accolades, always remember that the process isn’t simply to trigger an awareness and a change within the reader, but also to grow the vast reservoir of the soul-terrain of the writer herself. Goldberg says, “Writing is a path to meet ourselves and become intimate.”

“That’s very nice if they want to publish you, but don’t pay too much attention to it. It will toss you away. Just continue to write.” ~ Katagiri Roshi

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Don't miss Kristy's standalone, full-length novel - Into the Land of Shadows -

Available at Amazon and FREE in Kindle Unlimited.

In the land of the Navajo, spirits and desire draw Ethan and Kate close, leading them deeper into the shadows and to each other.

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