Wanting VS. Allowing (Creativity)
Wanting ourselves to be creative is a very physical thing. We tend to believe we’re concentrating on our mind then, but actually, as a result, nerves on the top of our head, our upper back and neck start tightening. For all intents and purposes - that is thinking. We trap our body in a wanted state, creating further friction. Our bodies don’t allow us to be creative, because we want control. The more we then want to come up with something great, the more we »concentrate«, the less relaxing and fun it is. Especially if you’re doing it for money and you have to do it on command. That’s why it’s a common misconception that being in a creative profession brings only fun and exploration. But remember, when we were kids, we could simply create things, and not get caught up in our own expectations of the outcome? Can creativity still be relaxing and fun?
Wanting…
But, you may think, there’s lots of ways how we can relax, so we can be truly creative: we can listen to relaxing music during our processes for instance, but unfortunately, that won’t necessarily help with actual creativity – in the end, it’s still just us, trying to force ourselves into outputting something, holding onto our control over the process. But, some may think, there’s techniques, that allow us to focus, so there’s no way our creativity can elude us – sure there are, but being focused is the ability to jump from one point to another, without wandering off, or rather, returning to the point at hand, each time that we do wander off. Being focused doesn’t really help us be creative in the first place. So am I saying that as adult, professional creatives, we’re now destined to just crave that creative flow that made us follow our dreams to become artists, directors, painters, art directors, animators, graphics designers, storyboard artists etc.? Am I?
… is not getting.
On the contrary, I am suggesting that most of us are taught to approach the creative process wrong. We believe that if we drive the car, we’ll know how to reach the destination, because we’re professionals. But I believe that we need to let go of the wheel, and let our mind do the driving. Sometimes, we need to be bored, meditate, or just stare blankly at the ceiling, because our minds need space. As professional creatives, we have all the experiences and knowledge that our minds have already compartmentalized and have access to. We don’t need to pull those experiences out again, we can let them float to the surface instead. But if we’re always busy controlling every aspect of our being, we cannot start to listen, and we can most definitely not hear. So we can train in letting go of expectations and of control, and allow ourselves to use what we already are and have - it always was, and always will be, more than enough.