Often when I stand in front of a blank canvas, I am overwhelmed……not quite sure where to start. In fact, sometimes this “voice” is so loud that I walk out of my studio feeling that “today is not the day”. If “today is not the day”, then when IS the day???
Humans are intensely creative. Everything that you see in your world is a result of the creative power of the mind and body – of yourself and of others. It has always been this way. When a tribe needed a new tool to cut the soil to plant seeds for the first time, someone thought of the idea of sharpening a stick to create an easily available tool to do just that. Need to cross a small river? Build a bridge. This is the creative history of humankind. In fact, we even use our minds to create our worlds. Something happens to us. We create a story about what that “really” means, and this becomes our reality even if it is a little short on facts. We never stop creating.
In today’s world, we have been taught to think that creativity is the realm of the genius or the gifted. We revere those we perceive to be masters of their area of expertise. These ideas have their beginning in the Renaissance which put the human being at the centre of the Universe above all else, disavowing influence from outside the human psyche.
What did people think before the Renaissance? The ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome believed that inspiration and creative genius came from a magical divine entity or muse that associated itself with artists and creative people. As Elizabeth Gilbert said in her TED Talk “Your Elusive Creative Genius “, this was “kind of like Dobby the house elf, and who would come out and sort of invisibly assist the artist with their work and would shape the outcome of that work”. Ancient tribal people believed that inspiration and ideas came from the spirit world in the form of dreams or visions.
Today we have a society built on inflated egos, and a belief system that only talented people can create. Myself, I believe we are all creators and we are all talented beyond our dreams. Go and create.....be what you came to be.....and leave out a chocolate for your muse....you may be amazed at what you can do.
