Tag Archive for theory of creativity

Creative Intelligence – My First Guest Blog

EdieWMoser_Head ShotToday you are in for a real treat with my first guest blog, by a friend and prolific writer, Edie Weinstein . She’s written countless articles on transformational subjects, but I think that the title of her new book The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The  Extraordinary accurately describes Edie’s outlook on life. I invite you to click on the link above to find out more of Edie’s extensive bio and journalistic efforts, including an interview with the Dalai Lama she did in 2008.

Last week, this blog posting of hers appeared on a site that Edie writes for, The Belief Net, which includes blogs by a number of writers on insprirational subjects. I was so intriqued with Edie’s slant on creatvity, (and the fact that she’s a brilliant wordsmith), that I asked her permission to repost her blog, which follows here…

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Creative Intelligence

I remember seeing a question on line recently about creativity; wondering  whether we are born creative or if it is something that can be learned and  honed. I tend to think that it is a bit of both. Since we ARE creations  ourselves, it would stand to reason that we are capable of creating. Think about  a child who plays with his or her food, or makes mudpies or finger paints.   All exquisitely messy and fun endeavors. There may be no conscious intention to  make anything in particular from the ingredients, just being led  by guidance.  One of my favorite authors, Richard Bach, describes it  beautifully:  “You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning  creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self. Don’t turn away  from possible futures before you’re certain you don’t have anything to learn  from them.”

What does your inner learning creature look like?  Mine is a cross  between a kool-aid hair-colored punk rocker (minus the tattoos and multiple  body piercings:) who looks a bit like Cindy Lauper,  sings like Annie  Lennox, paints like  Georgia O’Keefe, dances like Gabrielle Roth and  writes like Nora Ephron. A composite creative soul, indeed. Creativity is  in my blood, since as a child, I loved making up stories about things I would  see around me. I would create faerie villages in a wooded area in a nearby park,  I would color, paint, sing and dig in the dirt, imagining that I was  tunneling to China and once, hitting a water pipe a few feet down in the garden  near the strawberries my father had planted, really thought I had arrived! My  imagination was encouraged by the adults around me. I think that is one way we  become thriving (instead of starving) artists. Unlike many stories I have heard,  I don’t ever recall being discouraged from following the beckoning of the Muse.  She has become a close companion and lover, accompanying me 24/7, in my waking  and sleeping dreams.

Sometimes she calls in night images that aren’t particularly pretty, but they  serve a valuable purpose that stirs up and spurs on even greater depths of  creative wisdom. In the past few nights, I have immersed in visions about  tyrannical storm troopers who kill family members who visit a man who is encased  in a cyber-suit that he has traded for relieving horrific headaches. His deal  with whoever offered him that option is that he never see loved ones again, lest  they be vaporized. Another included offering aid and shelter to a woman who was  fleeing an abusive marriage and a third was about witnessing chains around the  heads of three generations of a family also caught up in violence and  destruction. What the heck is going on in the psyche’ of this self proclaimed  pacifist?  When this has happened in the past, it has been a wake up call  for me to take a look at areas in my life where I am terrorizing, vaporizing and  otherwise abusing myself. Where am I obliterating my creative flow even as it is  being called forth even more vibrantly? Taking a deep, cleansing, letting go  breath as I am typing these words.

I love being around creative people and among my friends are musicians,  dancers, actors, writers, directors, producers, radio show hosts,   photographers, graphic artists and designers. Like attracts like and each  of these folks are what I call works of he(art) who put their hearts and souls  into their work in the world. In their presence, I am inspired.

Last week I taught a class on creativity for professionals who work with  folks that have mental health diagnoses. One of my favorite exercises that I led  them through, was designing a Creativity Tree on whose branches, they would hang  words and images that represented their own playful inner learning creature.  Each person (with one exception) used crayons and markers on vividly colored  paper to draw their picture. One woman ‘ordered off the menu’ and cut out a tree  and pasted leaves on it and wrote words that expressed her own creative genius.  I hope that they all took them home and made them ‘frigerator art that they  proudly displayed.

Everything that has ever manifested in physical form was once an idea in  someone’s mind. Take time each day to envision at least one thing, experience or  person you want to call into your life.

You have the capacity to derive immense enjoyment from the challenge of  creating in form what you have pictured in your imagination. –Martha Beck, Enjoyment in the waiting…Insight from Martha

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM Vincent by Don  MacLean

 

You can find out more about Edie and her work on her web site.

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 Using Edie’s example of a Creatvity Tree of you, what would you hang from its branches to describe you? Would the bows bend from all of the weight of your endeavors, or would there be some blank spots. waiting for you to fill them in “when the time is right”? Are there any that you would implement now… as in today, at least start?

Why not leave a comment as to your thoughts on this posting. Please take a minute, fill out the form by clicking on the “comments/no comments link” at the top of the posting, and then share your ideas with the rest of us. We all grow when we share our thoughts and impressions, so why not join our growing community of those who appreciate art quilts and textile arts. We’d love to hear from you!

You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com and can find me on Google + , Facebook,  and Twitter.

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