The Structure & Flow of Creativity

 

For this 13th edition of the Joyful Sovereignty Weekly, my intention is fan the ember of creativity within you. By reading this, a spark of creativity is awakened exactly how it needs to be in your life that leads to Joyful Sovereignty.

Read The Previous Edition Here

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Ever been to a fun campfire?

For hours, the good times and flames were rolling. Lots of good stories and laughing.

Log after log was added to the fire to keep it aflame. The fuel to keep it roaring.

Then there comes a point where people start going to bed, one by one.

All the while, the roaring flames begin to die down.

Eventually, the flames disappear and only the embers remain.

For hours those embers hold on to their heat.

They have a potential for a fire again, they just need the right fuel.

Perhaps your creativity is like this story.

You once had roaring creative energy flowing through you when you were younger.

And now all you need is the right fuel. Today's message is intended to be that fuel.

There’s a lot of things that could be stopping you from tapping into the limitless creative energy.

It could be any of the following:

• You don’t have enough time
• You’re afraid of failure
• You’re constantly distracted
• You have a creative block
• Things have to be perfect for you in order to be creative
• You could have self-doubt and hyper critical of yourself

There are definitely more “reasons” why, but there is a common factor.

You.

You are stopping you.

It’s as simple as that.

With that said, let me share a complementary perspective.

It’s okay to have this going on. It’s okay if you are stopping you. Being honest about it is what will help you spark your creativity again.

But being gentle in the process will make it easier.

Before we talk about what creativity actually is, know that although you have been stopping yourself, there’s good news.

You can “un-stop” yourself from creativity and begin to spark it within yourself again.

Even if you believe you’re naturally not creative.

Even if you think that’s not who you are.

Even if you think creativity is for “artists”.

Wanna know why?

Because you’re human.

All humans have the innate ability to tap into creative.

We just have to allow it.

We were innately creative as kids. A lot of us being creative with whatever we could get our hands on.

Over time, we likely got told to stop asking questions. Stop being curious. Stop doing weird stuff. Stop being creative.

Unfortunately, we listened and conformed.

Creativity is an unbound energy that flows in every single moment.

It’s like infinite radio waves that are flying around at all times.

It’s there, all we have to do is attune to it.

Knowing that creativity is all around us at all times, we can begin to tap into it.

Being open to it is the key.

Even though creativity is all around, no one person “owns” it. It is a part of everything. The best creatives learn how to harness and be a temporary custodian of that creativity.

They do something with it, but know that it’s not really their own creation.

There is something bigger than themselves. And they're okay with it.

Curiosity is the “foot in the door”.

Imagine a door with interesting symbols on it. It’s painted in an intriguing way. The door nob is designed in such a way that invites you to touch it.

You don’t even need to open it, just feeling the texture of it would be enough.

And as soon as you touch it, you explore the grooves. The details of the texture is fascinating to you. After you touch it, you wonder if the door is this interesting and beautiful, what is behind it?

Your curiosity builds until you’ve created 8 different stories on what’s behind this door. Now you have to find out.

You slowly turn the knob. You hear the mechanism make some sounds.

You hear a loud "click".

Then you open the door.

A magnificent brightness shines through. So much so that you can’t initially handle it.

You slide your foot in the door to leave it open, because the light is inviting, yet you know that you can’t quite handle it.

This door of curiosity will be different for every single person.

But what’s on the other side of the door for each of us is the same.

Self-discovery, self-exploration and self-expression.

Opening the door is simply the spark. It’s the beginning of this particular chapter of your journey.

It’s the remembrance of your own innate creative power.

If you’ve read any of the Joyful Sovereignty Weekly articles, you know I’m a fan of structure.
But the right kind (and amount) of structure!

Most of us don’t want to be overly systematized or robots. But having enough structure and using it advantageously can be useful to us.

For today, we’re gonna discuss two main categories of structure. Both of these structures may seem counterinitiative at first, but read further.

Your environment powerfully shapes your creativity.

What if you viewed your environment as a collaborator of creativity and creation in your life?

Would that relieve any pressure that you have to do it all by yourself?

I know it does for me.

Let’s go back to the curious door story.

Once you finally get used to the brilliant light, you find yourself in a beautiful hall.

It’s a huge room with intricate designs all over the place. Every place you look seems to have a story you’d love to explore.

As you continue scanning the room, you notice there is some way it has been categorized in a way. Different sections show different kinds of interesting things you’d love to learn more about.

You also notice that even the columns scattered throughout have been intentionally designed in some way you can’t quite put your finger on.

You begin to explore the room and with each step, you understand more on how it was setup.

Things start to make sense.

Once you gather your baring's, you then run over to a particular section that seems super relevant to you in life right now.

[we’ll continue the story soon]

Ever been to a store without any rhyme or reason on where anything is. It’s hard to find anything.

It feels like you’re just stumbling around the store, hoping to find what you’re looking for.

The structure of a store helps you quickly find what you’re looking for.

In our case, "curiosity" is the thing “we’re looking for”.

If you look around your life: your home, where you work, places you frequent. How conducive are these places to sparking your own creativity?

Could you be more intentional about what is around you to spark your curiosity?

Could you go to places that organically spark your curiosity and creativity?

Could you put yourself in “containers” (think classes, places, communities) that will help you with your creativity or curiosity?

You absolutely can.

You just have to do it. At each one of these containers, there is potential collaboration for you.

You can clean up your home and work for these exact purposes. Even if only a tiny bit if you aren’t in complete control of what you can do at work.

Physical structure is so important. And a lot of it is in your control. You can do something about it.

Another form of structure is what you do, your habits and routines. This effects both what you physically do, and your mental patterns you experience.

Going back to some of the “problems” we discussed earlier, what are you doing on a routine basis that is feeding those "problems"?

We don’t need to dive super deep into it, but it’s our habitual patterns running automatically that keep us in the same loop (of lack of creativity).

So beginning (and stacking) habits and routines as structure to create the conditions for creativity is another tool in our tool kit.

Let’s say you identify something that sparks your curiosity and creativity. But you only do that thing once a month (or even once a year). Do you expect to be be creative all the time if you don’t do things that spark your creativity?

It’s in your power to develop habits that lead to tapping into the infinite creative power.

A daily ritual and practice that connects your bigger creative part of you and the daily habits you do.

This is the process that will allow you to ground it into your reality. This makes all this creativity talk into something tangible.

Into something we can wink our teeth into.

Something real.

The good thing with structure, is that once you build it, it’s there.

You don’t have to constantly build a foundation when you move into your house.

You take the time you need to build the structural foundation (both environment and habits), then you build upon it.

Which is what we’ll talk about next.

With foundational structure, you’ve created the conditions to flow WITH creativity.

You can flow WHILE establishing your structure. You don’t need to do one then the other.

However, once your structure is set, then it’s much easier to flow.

Freestyle rappers can flow easily because of years of building their vocabulary and "muscles" of freestyling.

With your environment intentionally set, you can “bump into” creativity spontaneously.

Your home or workplace can activate this beautiful flow of creativity. One glance at a piece of art can spark an idea.

Particular music can spark a memory of something, that leads to something creative.

And your structured habits and routines can keep you “on track” so you don’t get too distracted by unbound creativity.

Flow is the middle path of just enough structure to guide, and enough flow to be adaptive to life.

Life is ever changing and evolving. If we are too rigid and structured, we can find ourselves in resistance with life.

When this happens, the friction can pull us out of the moment and it doesn’t feel great.

Tapping into our flow brings us more present with life.

Flow also allows us to take advantage of limitation.

We are all limited in some way. With our resources, time, what we can do and so much more. We can use this to our advantage to be creative and create something BECAUSE of the limitation.

In order to do this, we’ll need a mindset shift.

Embracing limitation as a gift, rather than a hinderance to creativity and flow.

Going back to our story with the intriguing room.

Because this incredible room has been intentionally structured and designed for optimal flow, we can simply flow with it.

We don’t need to think or strategize about it. We can simply be present in the moment and flow.

This flowing exploration from moment to moment can be incredibly fun and liberating.

We know that because the room has been designed especially FOR us, we can settle into it even deeper.

It’ll feel safe to explore it in this way.

As ideas emerge within you, you’ll come across something almost everyone deals with.

Perfection. This can be a problem.

All creativity is unbound until it’s expressed.

The moment you create something, it becomes less dynamic and more static.

The words in your head when you write something could be an infinite number of ways to express it. Once you put pen to paper, those words have been chosen and have become crystalized.

The moment an artists' brush hits the canvas, it went from an infinite potential of what “could be”, into “what is”.

Not only is whatever is expressed crystalized, but the energy in which it was created is imbued into that creation.

So why bring this up?

It’s because a lot of us feel like we have to “get it right the first time”.

We want it “perfect”.

And because of that, it can stop us from freely creating what we want. It holds us back.

If you know that creativity put into the world becomes crystalized, then it can become easier to let go of perfection.

Knowing that if you write something, it’ll be what it is.

And you also know that you can write something tomorrow, and it’ll likely be better.

If you paint something today, you’ll probably find “fault” in it.

Embracing the journey will also lead to you leaving a trail of breadcrumbs of your creativity. You’ll have projects and creations with a specific crystalized creativity locked in.

Years later, you’ll be able to look back and most likely cherish it.

Be okay with messing creation.

Be okay with "imperfect art".

Be okay with making something today, because you can always make something tomorrow.

Let go of the pressure. You don't need most of it.

Each one of us has a unique blend of experiences and backgrounds in life.

This offers a unique "palette of colors" to work with.

This "palette of colors" is your life experience, challenges you’ve went through and the accomplishments you’ve made.

Some people have a wide range of colors to paint with, while others have a few carefully selected colors.

Those with few colors often have a deep level of mastery with those colors and techniques.
All are valid.

All support a bigger picture (canvas).

I see a world where people wake up to their creativity and express it however is best for them and their journey.

Some will write.

Some will paint.

Some will speak.

Some will inspire.

Some will create.

Some will do other things.

We don't need to be perfect.

We don't need to be "world class".

We can simply be ourselves, and that's good enough.

The beauty is that people will complement their palettes with others to collaboratively create.

Your structure that you’ve created in your life, will align with other people that will complement their structured creativity.

Each will bring a piece of the puzzle to the "table of creation".

No one piece is more important than the other. Embrace your uniqueness.

You have it within you to tap into the unlimited creativity available.

It’s a matter of allowing it. Opening it up with your curiosity and excitement. From there, you’ll begin to remember.

Take it step by step and be gentle with yourself. Be easy with the process.

This weeks actions steps are to do the following:

1. Articulate 1-3 things you're curious about that you can experiment with (perhaps again in life). It’s intended these curiosities can help you spark your creativity again.
2. Develop or refine 1 structure for your environment. Or get yourself into a “container” to spark your creativity. Ideally in alignment with one of your curiosities.
3. Develop or refine 1 structure for your habits or routines. Make this easy. Set the bar low. Practice it for the next week.
4. Make 1 thing creative over the next week. It could be super simple. Like writing a single poem. Drawing something for 10 minutes. Making something simple with your hands.

With all these action steps, make it simple! Take 5 minutes to think about something and just go for it! Don’t get paralyzed with analysis or let negative thoughts creep in. Have fun with it!

Well,  that’s it for this edition of the Joyful Sovereignty Weekly!

Wish you a great rest of your day!

Best,

Lane

P.S. If you enjoyed this edition, share this article on your social media or with a friend who you think would enjoy reading this.