Creativity at Work: The Creative Process
By Kerry Lee Special to the Herald
We all do it. Make things. Create things. Could be at work or school, or in the kitchen, or as a fun way to spend time. However, are you paying attention when you are creating, or just creating something because you have a to do list? As I’ve mentioned in this column, I believe anything done with intention turns out differently than if we are not paying attention. This affects not ourselves for but for all of those around us. Does your own creative process drive and guide you to a place where you are thriving from your efforts or is it draining your energy?
Today I am featuring thoughts about the creative process from my mentor and teacher in the Intentional Creativity® process, Shiloh Sophia McCloud. She asks, “What is THE most essential thing right now?” and explains “We are creations (our body and soul), living within a creation (earth and cosmos), who create all the time (our lives, communities and families). We must be truly conscious about what it is we are creating for our experience of life now and in the future. We also must, as important as any other thing we do, allow our connection to our creative life force to guide us in our creative process. Otherwise, we will soon exhaust ourselves with our version of saving the world.
Becoming anchored with the certainty of what must be done, during uncertain times, starts with a powerful connection to our own soul work. For a conscious awake human, any other starting place will have us arrive at a destination other than the one that is most essential for us, personally and therefore collectively.
What is the most the most essential thing right now? I think the most essential thing right now is to ask ourselves each day – what is most essential for me today? What do I need to thrive instead of just survive? What meets my own needs, as well as contributes to where I feel called?
My experience is that awake humans naturally CARE and want to serve the common good. Especially if that care is sparked by something that person LOVES and feels inspired by. When humans are asleep or numb we do not act in tandem for the highest good for all, but make choices in isolation.
The creative process is a saving grace not just for those who identify as creatives, but for all beings, because it impacts our body, our brain and our narrative of what is happening in our lives. When we create, we gain access to a collaboration with our deepest selves. We exit the self-imposed exile of disconnection to soul self. That self has information for navigating the future that rivals any other narrative. The only narrative that will work for you is the one you create. All other narratives are over-rated and most often tainted with fear.
What narrative of your unique creativity is running you right now? Is it adding to or depleting your energy and the energy of the world around you?
This unfolding creation story needs you to show up as vitally and uniquely you, and from this place we will work together to embody transformation and act for change. The magic of your own specific alchemy is what is the most essential thing. This is where the unique solutions will arise within our collective imaginations and actions for justice.”
Learn more about Shiloh Sophia and Intentional Creativity® at Shiloh Sophia Studios.
Next week I’ll share my experience about a simple but powerful collaborative creative project of growing a “Witness Tree” at the recent Wisdom 2.0 Conference in San Francisco, when we asked, “What are you here to cause and create?”.
Kerry Lee, a 25 year Benicia resident, is a Certified Intentional Creativity® Teacher and Coach, leading group workshops, experiential retreats, mobile social painting parties, customized corporate team building and corporate social responsibility events and teaching essential oil lifestyle and wellness classes. Find her at KerryLeeArt.com / #TheAlchemicalArtist
