The Cycles of Creativity

by Emily Hanlon

Although at its core, creativity is a mystery, the creative process is knowable, and we can use it as a template for living a more fulfilling, aware, meaningful life. If allowed, the cycles of creativity become the enduring flow of our lives, bringing with them the freedom to live life sourced from your passions instead of your fears – from your life’s true purpose rather than from your ego’s vision of security and prosperity.

The Spark of Inspiration
The initial spark of inspiration is creativity’s calling card. It can be an idea for a poem, sculpture, dance or concerto, a new garden, business or invention, a Halloween costume, a party or a gift; it can be a vision of you in a new relationship to others and to Self. Inspiration is non-verbal; it is the life-enhancing “Wow!” moment when the vision of what can be –of who you can be – carries you into unchartered territory and the land of possibility.

The land of possibility is the womb of creativity; it is here that you swim on the sea of the unconscious; your spark of inspiration is thrust about by the surging waves of the chaos. This land is not unknown to you. In fact, you visit it every night in your dreams. What sometimes makes it a nightmare is that your mind cannot make sense of this non-verbal world. Which is why mind – with its language, thought and need to analyze – should not be allowed entry into the early stages of the creative process. The mind is also home of the ego, that busy-body who will surely bully his way in and put your spark of creativity under the microscope of judgment! Now, you feel confused. The image that made glorious sense a minute ago feels muddy, vague and stupid – just another one of your dumb ideas. Out it goes!

Gestation
That is why inspiration needs time to gestate unfettered in the unconscious, in the place of mystery, where there is only possibility, not definition....
To read the full article, go to:
http://www.creativesoulworks.com/index_creative_cycles_i-con.htm

Awakening Creativity, a new Video

Check out a video based on my coaching at Selfgrowth.com.
It's called Awakening Creativity (in five minutes, no less!!)
Leave a comment or a question and I will respond!

Free Teleseminar Dec. 15

Gift the Gift of Self to Self
Experience the Compassion of the Beloved

A Free Holiday TeleSeminar from Emily Hanlon
Tuesday, December 15 at 7-9 pm eastern time

Who is the Beloved?
You! Your Inner,True Self.

Who are you beyond ego and persona?
Where is your compassion for self? Your love and joy in self?
What is the Song of Your Soul?


Join me as we explore the incredible journey to the Beloved this holiday season.

December 15 at 7 pm eastern time.
This teleSeminar is free but you must email Emily to register.

Can't make the teleseminar? Register anyway.
A download will be available to everyone who registers.

Register at http://www.creativesoulworks.com/teleseminar_gift_of_self.html

Lilies and Roses In the House of The Dark Moon

I was in the garden, taking in its early August glory as I went about aimlessly pinching off the dead daylilies. Although I love all flowers, daylilies hold my heart. I have perhaps thirty different colors, sizes and shapes. I wait for their blooming each year and wander most mornings to see which beauty is offering herself to me this day. Sometimes I gasp in joy at the subtleness of colors as tender petals open and curl backwards, showing me their hearts. I talk to them. I admit I do.

“Oh, you are so beautiful,” I tell them. “And you and you! You are all amazingly gorgeous.” As I admire their profuse abandon, I try not to think that tomorrow morning each of today’s perfect flowers will have folded in on itself and begun to shrivel. Tomorrow I will be pinching off the very ones that bring me such joy today. I don’t, however, linger on the thought. The daylily has no patience for such morbidity. She blooms with all her heart, perfect for a day.

As I walk, the rosebushes suddenly claim my attention. They are blooming again and, as I near, I see that in between the shimmering red clusters are heretofore unnoticed brittle, brown dead flowers. How had I missed them?

With great determination, I reach for my clippers and, as I am about to cut off the first shriveled bunch, I stop, clippers in mid air. The thought strikes me that while I mourned the prospect of the daylily’s fate, I have no such feelings for these dead roses that mar the otherwise vibrant bush. I am eager to cut them off and dump them into the compost heap. What is the difference between the lily and the rose?

Then I realize there is no difference, except from my mind’s perspective. I saw the lily as life in all its beauty and fullness. I saw the rose as death in all its withered ugliness. But what truly amazes me is that as peaceful as the lily is in her beauty, the decaying roses are peaceful in their death. Such thoughts bring me deeply into my heart and, with love and awareness, I prune away the dead roses and gently lay them in the compost.

As we learn, with love and awareness, to appreciate our blooming, we learn to prune away with love and awareness those parts of self that no longer serve our being. The more we live in equanimity with the cycle of birth, bloom, withering and death, the more present we are; and the more we cherish the fullness of life in its moment to moment progression. Death, the pruner par excellence, becomes our master gardener. Death no longer looms as The End.

CRONE AS THE GUIDE TO EQUANIMITY

The House of the Dark Moon in this workshop refers to "dark of the moon," those three nights every month when the moon is hidden. Metaphorically, this is the time of Crone, whose province is the dark, the stillness, and letting go. To the ego, Crone and her dwelling is synonymous with death and charged with fear. To the heart, Crone’s dwelling is a place of letting go, a place that opens to rebirth, symbolized by the new moon and her rhythmic dance toward fullness.

This is a nine month TeleWorkshop Series from Emily Hanlon.

Explore the teleworkshop series

On Creativity

Our creativity is most often used to birth our creations in the outer world, whether it be in the arts, the healing professions or any creative expression that is driven by our passion. Although these are powerful expressions, we are called to an even deeper level of creativity: the birth of true Self, She who was there before you came into life and will remain when the body dies. She is your center, your stillness; she is the mystery and she knows the immensity of who you are — an immensity beyond the mind's reckoning. She is waiting for you. She has always been waiting. Through her, you find your passion, your purpose and your freedom.

Creativity is the fire of the Seeker's path; it is the Spiritual Warrior's torch-giving light.

This Love Affair Call Life

In this love affair called Life
I am too often a silent partner,
Hiding – in fear of what?
Could it be joy
of such an exquisitely simple nature
I mistook it for a dream.

The cynic’s shroud.
When did I first try it on?
Long ago when I gave up
on fairy wings and dancing slippers.
That wonder of being sparkling always
Beneath the comfortless shroud.

The Silence

Life is born of silence.
Without silence we would not
hear the song.
Silence is the life-giving womb.
Silence is the beat of the heart.
Wear her like a crown.
Wear her like a cape.
Wear silence in the midst of laughter,
sorrow, joy and pain.
Enter her womb,
there sound is born.

A Nature Workshop

If you live in the NY/Philadelphia area,I recommend this Nature Workshop led by Doris Jeanette. I've taken the workshop and have known Doris for years. She's an excellent workshop leader and knows how to release your energy!

The Nature Workshop is in the Forest at Pt. Pleasant, PA. Saturday October 17, 2009 15 minutes north of New Hope, PA. Close to Philly and NYC. One day, outdoor workshop- 10:45 -5:00 pm. Rain date is on Sunday. Safe for seniors who like to wear purple and other living things.

A Nature Workshop lead by Doris Jeanette helps you become stronger, more assertive and expressive. You enjoy vibrant moments of being fully alive in your body. You move, laugh and play in the forest with a group of like minded people, accessing more of your human potential.

More information at http://www.drjeanette.com/natureworkshops.html

The Nurturing Power of Destruction

I am only beginning to understand the nurturing power of destruction. For so long I destroyed without knowing the cycles. Why are ants and bees more wise than me? The rose bush is a master teacher, knowing when to bloom and when to simply be. Yesterday,I cut back her dead blooms. She did not argue. There was nothing to protest. It was time to let go. And bloom again.
Thank you, I said, holding her wisdom in my heart.

Letting Stillness Grow

I saw a sky as large as my heart
and I did not know
it was mine.
What wonders lie in stillness,
that evasive gift of life.
Is it fear of death, of nothingness
that keeps stillness at bay?
My thirst is great.
My skills are few,
but what skills might stillness
require?
Patience, for one.
Am I patient enough
and brave enough
to let my stillness grow?