I caught a video of Rick Rubin on a scroll, and it was a big wake up call as to what I’ve been missing. Here’s a link to the full interview. I made the husband watch Lex Fridman’s interview with him which he seemed to like, especially the sections of the interview where they listened to music together.
I bought his book, The Creative Act. In starts with one simple quote:
The object isn’t to make art,
it’s to be in that wonderful state
which makes art inevitable.
Robert Henri
Creativity means breaking out of the routine. It means inviting play into life.
- Taking a different route to the store.
- Cooking something entirely different.
- Pulling out the paint and canvas.
- Writing more.
- Making more videos.
- Walking different routes.
- Getting more present.
- Finding way to be devotionally of service to my mission in life through the work that I do.
And that means doing the hard work on me. It means getting vulnerable, and letting that art flow.
My mission is human empowerment. And I want everything I create to remind you that you are more than you think you are.
Creativity is therapy
In Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way, she talks about “morning pages.” It’s a time when you just let whatever is in you flow out. It has to get out or else you remain creatively blocked. Julian Shapiro talks about the creativity faucet and how the junk needs to come first before you get clear, inspired flow coming.
My daughter has been going through some stuff with school, friends, and the requisite teenager drama. I suggested she get creative as therapy to work through those experiences. She must have actually listened (and I didn’t even have to use “bruh” properly in a sentence) as she’s immersing herself in creative flow and that is helping. So. Much.
Leadership requires creativity
Years ago, I had a conversation with one of Mark’s friends who is a leadership coach for some pretty big brands. The biggest takeaway for me was that for an organization to be healthy, leaders have to be working on themselves.
For people at the bottom rung of the ladder, it is easy to provide process and procedure to get things done and make things happen. Their “stuff” with mom or resentments with dad don’t really matter in the routine of their job.
But leadership’s decisions are all about the leader and their unconscious motivations. If there are unconscious unresolved traumas, things tend to come out sideways. If leaders are not working on themselves, they unconsciously start working on that unresolved stuff in their organizations.
It becomes a play of twisting and turning an organization into attempts to resolve unconscious trauma. When the leader looks over the side of the boat and sees something shiny and then the whole boat starts capsizing, it is because the shiny thing unconsciously feels like it fixes that unconscious drama.
To truly be effective, an organization requires leadership that does their inner work. Leaders need creativity as therapy in order to be proactively effective in setting vision and direction in a way that serves the customer and empowers their teams.
Just get started
Much like starting an exercise program, getting started with creative flow can be daunting when you start up again. Here are some ideas on how to get started.
Just write. About anything and everything. Get it out. Journal using something like Day One or do those morning pages with pen and paper.
Give yourself permission to suck. Whatever you start doing, it will not meet your expectations when you get started. Let that dirty water flow and let it flow in its complete suckage so you can get to the clean water. It will come, but too many people stop when they see what sucks.
Change your environment. Walk a different way, drive a different way, re-arrange your workspace. Your mind will work differently and you’ll see things clearer and in a fresh perspective.
Listen to one of those Rick Rubin interviews. Not kidding, they are so good.
Meditate and get present. If you’re worried about the future or resenting things of the past, you cannot be in the flow.
Seek Inspiration. Look to other works of art, nature, or even everyday objects for inspiration. Sometimes, observing the world around you can trigger creative ideas.
Feel into your body. Your mind is great for math, accounting, and paying bills, but it’s too focused on staying safe and not making mistakes. Your body is where your creative energy flows. Get in touch with your body and let it lead you.
The benefits
You won’t just find benefits in the creative output, look for benefits as a part of the process. You’ll get more in touch with who you are, and people will notice. It will begin to shift your life towards a place of greater fulfillment as you become more of who you really are.
As you start, it’s hard, but your life will begin to shift the more you do it. It’s almost as if your world sees you waking up to your power as a creator and your experiences will begin to shift.
