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Creativity Tip 28 – Creativity and Meaning

We all seem to agree that we live in a time of rapid, even accelerating, change. Throughout the last century people have created an enormous amount – brand new disciplines included – but there has been a downside: Capitalism in combination with industrialism, through its efficiency in production, has given us more wealth. However, it has distanced us from the intrinsic meaning of work. Individualism has given us more freedom of choice, but has tended to alienate us from each other. The mass media has created a global village with an onslaught of advertising, while stunting our ability to think for ourselves and trust our own judgment. Materialism has led to great technological advances but tends to stop us from feeling connected to nature.

One of the radical changes going on is in the way we think about the activities and the work we do. With job security uncertain, there is a greater impetus to ensure our values connect with our work and we are desperate to find more meaning and purpose in our lives.

What are the questions to ask to find meaning? "Why did I come to this planet? What is the purpose of my work? What is my place in the world? What is it I love to do?" These questions help us to define our vision, which can be the guiding light that sets the foundation for all choices we make and all of what we create.

The craving to align life purpose with work to make it more meaningful, involves both inner work, remembering our true Self, and outer work, the expression of our unique talents and contribution to something other than our self. These are creative acts, perhaps even a reason for becoming more creative?

Understanding the nature of creativity and how to develop it at the personal and organisational level helps us create the world we want. When we engage in what we are naturally suited to do, our work takes on the quality of play and it is play that stimulates creativity.

With our creativity boosted we can make new meanings from our lives and circumstances. This can result in true sustainable change. As David Gordon said in his most recent book, written with Graham Dawes, Expanding Your World: Modelling the Structure of Experience “regardless of the change method, unless it ultimately leads to a change of meaning the change is unlikely to stay.”

In Linda Naiman’s model (which she based on Gabrielle Roth's work on the evolution of consciousness in her book Maps to Ecstasy) creativity is seen as an expanding spiral (see diagram below), with theses 5 major points in the process:

1. Inertia
2. Imitation
3. Intuition
4. Imagination
5. Inspiration

Inertia
Inertia has a dual nature, a positive and negative force. It is inert energy, a resting place before mobilising into action. In nature, it is the fallow period between growing seasons. The negative aspect of inertia occurs when, through laziness or apathy, we allow ourselves to be hypnotized, living our lives in a trance, unquestioningly accepting convention as truth, resisting change and living in fear.

Imitation
Just as the seed grows out of the darkness, we stir from our sleep state when someone or something provokes us to learn and grow. At first we learn about the world around us from our parents, teachers, heroes, and the media. Imitation is a vital part of our growth. We learn from the masters in business, art, philosophy, or science. In business, if we like someone else's idea, we copy it. Sometimes we copy ourselves working within an existing form. Imitation is an important phase, allowing us to develop new ideas in a safe way. In order to progress we must ‘let go’ of this stage. Buddha said the root of all suffering is our attachments. He also said to question everything. This takes us to the next phase of the creative cycle: intuition.

Intuition
Intuition in the creative cycle can be a time of chaos and for many it is a time of fear. This is a time to let go of trying to control everything, in spite of the fear. Old forms break down to make room for the new. This is a time to go within, to let go of the past and to do the inner work. To wake up. To break the grip of convention. To let go of false security in the outer form. Instead of fearing the unknown, you can learn to trust your intuition and let it guide you through the abyss. Physiologically the body is unable to tell the difference between fear and excitement. You can turn your fear into excitement and use your intuition to allow the mystery to be revealed. You can play with your intuition: pay attention to messages - words, stories, images - that attract your attention and ask yourself what meaning this synchronicity has. Opportunities are everywhere all the time. The universe speaks to us through people, places, and situations.

Imagination
Our intuition and then imagination lead us to fresh thinking with which we can creatively manage change. We are in the process of creating a new model for work: one of nurturing, learning, meaning, fulfilment, and interconnectedness with humanity and the planet. This model embraces different values of integration, wholeness, and balance. We are learning to be, to go with the flow, to honour cycles. Imagination involves giving your intuitions form through creativity, which is simply the act of making something new. Creative activities expand our brain power, blending the intuitive with logic. When Winston Churchill wasn't leading England, he took time out in the countryside to paint. Science shows that creativity actually increases the neuron connections in our brain.

Inspiration
The fifth level of consciousness in the cycle of creativity is inspiration. The voice of the inner critic is quiet. Conscious thought ceases. This is pure potential, the space between the words. It is the miracle of creation when we lose ourselves in the vastness of the moment. Thought and time disappear. We are one with our creation. We are fully awake to our human spirit, pure energy, completely connected with life force energy in a state of ecstasy. Some call this "the zone”. T.S. Eliot described it as the "still point of the turning world”.

Creativity is a process that takes you from an inert state to inspired creation. It occurs when we engage our Wholeness in the process of any creative expression, be it music, art, dance, design, implementing innovation or developing a new business process. Knowing this cycle - and perhaps it is really part of an evolutionary spiral - helps provide understanding and insights in taking the next step.

Creativity coaching can help with your thinking, so you can find more connections to successful ways of achieving your goals and dealing with your challenges.

Click here to arrange an introductory session to find out more.

It’s provoking to notice places where the processes whereby meaning is created are taking place. An example is Wangari Maathai’s Green Belt Movement . This movement is a grassroots initiative to preserve nature, and empower people to do likewise. It has grown over the 30 or so years of its existence, all from the power of its purpose. Maathai’s movement is an example of self-empowerment as an answer to the crisis of meaning. Her 2004 Nobel peace price is a welcome institutional reward for such spontaneous purpose driven instances of self-organization.