IN THE PAST two weeks, I've had four friends reach out sharing they've felt burnt out in life + work. So I wanted to share something personal:
In the past two years, my creative spirit has done a complete 180. Returning to my poetic practice and developing an ongoing artistic project helped me return to my truest self, find boundless energy, and continue to grow and evolve at a job I love that is challenging as well as creatively and intellectually inspiring.
I read this on the bus today and wanted to share as I'm sure so many people can relate:
"Art creates a profound connection
between the artist and the audience.
Through that connection,
both can heal."
True restoration can be found in finding a creative process that fuels your spirit. Sleep is not the only type of rest we need.
Developing a creative practice can not only invigorate your inner world but build new connections with others — and this doesn't have to be to an audience of millions. I have a small community of friends and family I share my poetry with, and the habit of sharing my work keeps me motivated and my heart and mind open.
Over the past two years, I've found my creative process depends on these five dynamics:
1. High conscientiousness and awareness — everything can be seen with fresh eyes.
2. Good habits and momentum (e.g., building a discipline to keep the energy and work moving)
3. Physicality (e.g. walking, working out, being outside)
4. Focus (e.g., having a contained project or objective or reason)
5. Spaciousness and self compassion
There is no *one* way — we all need to develop our personal inroads to our creative practice. And it will, of course, change over a lifetime.
Here's a running list of inspiring quotes I've collected from this book on the creative process.
— "The artist is on a cosmic timetable, just like all of nature."
— "Art is a circulation of energetic ideas."
— "The practice of spirituality is a way of looking at the world where you're not alone...Harnessing this energy can be marvelously useful in your creative pursuits. The principle operates on faith. Believing and behaving as if it's true. No proof is needed."
— "It's not usual for science to catch up to art, eventually. Nor is it unusual for art to catch up to the spiritual."
— "When something out of the ordinary happens, ask yourself why. What's the message? What could be the greater meaning?"
— "When clues present themselves, it can sometimes feel like the delicate mechanism of a clock at work. As if the universe is nudging you with little reminders that it's on your side and wants to provide everything you need to complete your mission."
— "The purpose is to evolve the way we see the world when we're not engaged in [meditation]. We are building musculature of our psyche to more acutely tune in. This is so much of what the work is about. Awareness needs constant refreshing. If it becomes a habit, even a good habit, it will need to be reinvented again and again."
— "I asked if he was familiar with the Buddhist concept of papancha, which translates as preponderance of thoughts. This speaks to the mind's tendency to respond to our experience with an avalanche of mental chatter."
— "You're the only one with your voice."
— "Beginning a work, completing a work, and sharing a work—these are key moments where many of us become stuck... The mission is to complete the project so you can move on to the next."
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Has anyone else read The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin?
I highly recommend it for creatives, deep thinkers, and the curious — and would love to hear what people think.
I love this—it reminds me a lot of “the artist’s way” and the idea of setting artist dates with yourself. I feel the same way about creativity being a restorative practice for me.
I think it’s really common for adults to get out of touch with their hobbies and then wonder why their routine isn’t filling their cup (and not to say that work and life circumstances aren’t often stressful or challenging, but having a respite from both and a way of sourcing fresh inspiration can help a lot).