Image is a black and white photo of the full moon with pine branches reaching across from the left side
This morning I woke up, thinking about today’s first full moon of the year. How in some traditions the full moon has been seen as the culmination of events, and a time to release that which no longer serves us.
I started to wonder, instead, of thinking of the full moon, and all of the phases of the moon, as a ripening, and reaching up to pluck it like a sweet berry from the sky, full of starlight and dreams. Inspiration and a seed for the coming month. A reminder of the continual cycle of growth and rest.
I love shifting and exploring different perspectives. It’s part of my creative practice.
May curiosity and awe continue to lead each and everyone of us into exploring the beauty and possibility all around us.
Image is a black and white photograph of a light coloured piece of crumpled paper on a black background
Time spent in creative practice doesn’t have to result in something tangible.
Not one word, brushstroke, note, pixel, movement or sound needs to exist.
How did reading that make you feel? Excited? Uncomfortable? An exclamation of wow, or how ridiculous?
Congratulations! You just did something creative! You received an external stimulus, processed it, and put things together that is an expression of all your experience in a way that is unique to you. A definition of creativity.
I teach a creativity and meditation class once a month. One of the cool things about that is that I either come up with a theme and explore it, to see how I might invite others in the creative practice portion of the class, or I mess around with one of the many ways I like to engage with the world, and see what comes up.
Something that arose for me this month is that there doesn’t have to be a tangible result during time spent in creative practice. I think that’s what holds some people back in exploring- the pressure to make something that’s visible to others… or something that has some perceived value. Comparing it to work that’s in a gallery/museum/stage/musical platform/book.
How would it be for you to instead take a walk with a theme, such as “what colour/shape/sound am I most noticing today?” Or sit somewhere and become immersed with the music of life flowing around you? Spend time in your creative space (even if it’s wherever you make a place in the moment) and explore your materials with your senses? Feel the textures of paper, metal, wood, or beads in your hand. The squish of garden dirt between your fingers. The weight of a musical instrument on your lap. Laying on the floor and feeling the subtle energy of breath and blood pulsing through your body. Watch the quality of light and shadow shift with the passing of time. Listen to music and follow the sound of one instrument. Enjoy it in the moment, and set it free.
All of this, to me, is both creative practice and meditation. I won’t have anything to show for it, but it’s tucked away in my mind and heart, and time has revealed that these things appear at some point later, when I’m in the flow of creating something in my outer world. And something I can revisit at any time I choose.
The picture at the beginning of this article was part of my most recent exploration. My theme in November started as light and dark, and expanded to exploring opposites. Earlier in the day I had taken some photos of the interior of a box grater, and had been thinking about light and shadow most of the day.
Image is a black and white photo of the interior of a box grater
I crumpled up part of a brown paper bag and set it on my table. I started to sketch it- white chalk on black paper, and became a little frustrated. Drawing has been problematic for me over the years, for so many reasons (an article in itself!), and I stopped.
Black and white photo of a close up of a crumpled paper bag.
Instead, I gave over to exploring with my senses only. At first crumpling and uncrumpling the paper. I listened to the sounds it made. I followed the folds with my eyes, enjoying the rhythms that appeared. I thought about how I would embody crumpling.. folding and unfolding.. light and dark. I put the paper in different light and noticed how it accentuated different crevices. Smelled that unique brown paper bag smell. When I felt I was done, and only then, I took out my phone and took some pictures. And only because I was inspired to do so. No obligation. No expectation.
Black and white photo of a crumpled paper bag set on its edge on a black background. Black and white photo of a crumpled paper bag on a black background. The foreground is in focus, softening as the image goes back.
I then went on with my day. I loved the sensation that I’d done something pleasurable for awhile, for myself (even though it was initially in preparation for a class).
It’s important to remember that play and rest are integral parts of both creative practice and meditation. Often after an intense round of output, I can spend weeks of not creating any actual thing, but that doesn’t mean than I’m not engaged in creative practice. Rest is a great tool for creativity.
I invite you to play and not create something tangible at the end. Arrange some twigs in a pleasing manner. Stack stones. Make hand shadows. Allow the silliest sounds you’ve every heard come from you. Dance with the wind. Deeply listen to music. Follow the brushstrokes of a painting in a gallery with your eyes. Don’t document it.. simple play and enjoy some unbounded creativity. Do it for you!
Image is a desaturated photo of a foggy lane curving to the left. There is a wall on the left, an arch of trees. Bare branches cross in the background.
This afternoon there was no choice but to take a nap… you know that feeling …when it takes the last bit of effort you have to make it to the bed or sofa.
It’s such a delicious sinking in and surrendering to rest. I can almost feel the tiredness sliding off of me, into the mattress. Into the center of the Earth.
There are times, like today, when I’m in that liminal state and feel meditation click in. The more I practice, the more accessible that feeling is. It’s a very physical feeling… ecstatic, even. Sparkly. Effervescent. Expansive- both outward and inward. The form of meditation I practice, Instinctive Meditation®, is permissive and encourages curiosity and exploration, wherever the journey leads.
Today it was following this sensation through my body. Sensual in every regard. I thought what a beautiful feeling, and celebrated each easeful breath. I took on that phrase as a mantra: “What a beautiful feeling.” Over and over as I followed it. My arms, fingers, fingernails, legs, toes. Even the ends of my hair. All filled with the beautiful feeling of prana shakti flowing through me.
And then came: “I am an open channel for Divine energy to flow through me. Radiating out to every being. The rocks. The water. The air. The trees. And cycling back through me. Ever and always. What a beautiful feeling.
Mmm. I can feel it even now, just thinking about it.
Image is a black and white photograph. There is a sidewalk with water on it, guardrail and channel of water on the left. ahead is a bright opening. There is text that reads: Let your curiosity lead, and your wisdom will rise up to support you.
Image shows a pastel drawing of an ocean beach. There are waves coming to shore. On the right is a large boulder, with a yellow sun just to the left of the boulder.
Consider all the pain and all the pleasure You have ever experienced As waves on a very deep ocean which you are.
From the depths, witness those waves, Rolling along so bravely, always changing, Beautiful in their self-sustaining power.
Marvel that once, you identified with Only the surface of this ocean. Now embrace waves, depths, undersea mountains, Out to the farthest shore. ~Insight verse 136, “The Radiance Sutras”, Lorin Roche, PhD. ************************************************************ The image I drew in a recent Playing With Creativity and Meditation class that my friend Andrea Abrahamson and I co-teach at the online Radiance Sutras School of Meditation. It was her turn to facilitate, and the theme was travel.
Going into the meditation, we were invited to attune to our senses. I live on a really busy street, and the ebb and flow of traffic began to sound like ocean waves to me. I could see the image I drew so clearly, so out it came. As I worked with the pastels, my fingers blending the colours together also sounded like the ocean to me, so I played with that… moving my hand and much of my body, creating the sound of the ocean. The movement of waves. The tingling of my fingers reminded me a little of the sharp tingling of sand under my bare feet.
It’s my favourite little beach in Pacific Palisades, and is still closed after the January fires. I looked at the satellite map recently, tracing the route down the twists and turns down Sunset Blvd. that I’ve enjoyed driving. So much is gone; I’m not sure when I’ll have the heart to make the drive again. It’s so wonderful to have the memory of it, and now this image, as one of my doorways into meditation.
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