We all hold the power of creativity. We all have the creative muse live within us. The creative muse is our source of inspiration and creativity. The hard part is quietening down the noise of the outside world so that we can connect and honour our own creative muse within.
Connecting with your own creative muse will inspire you to step out of fear and live creatively, which does not have to mean pursuing a life that is professionally devoted to the arts or creative endeavours but living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity, joy and inspiration rather than by fear. If you want to write poetry or play music or paint, the creative muse will help you do that. But if you want to garden, take hip-hop lessons, play golf, build a tiny home or raise horses, the creative muse will be there for you also.
We all have those things in our life that bring us great joy, comfort and enthusiasm, things like our favourite places, activities, rituals, people or things.
Tapping into the things that bring us joy is the portal to connecting with our own inner creative muse. The things that bring joy to our heart have the potential to heal, inspire, motivate, uplift, connect and reveal. In our fast-paced world, these very things that bring us joy also become our sanctum or place of solace when we need some restoration, rejuvenation and a little inspiration.
You have many moments of creativity and inspiration in your lifetime. These are the great ideas, the times you surprised yourself with your own capabilities and the moments where you completed a difficult task with perfection and ease.
There is no such thing as luck or accidents in this purposeful universe. Not only is everything connected to everything else, but no one is excluded from the creative muse and the universal source of inspiration, creativity and intention. The creative muse is available to every single human being, and the way it shows up and expresses itself will be different for every single one of us.
The creative muse is most prevalent when we are living in tune with our most authentic nature. We all have a ‘nature’, however with the distractions and gloss of the modern world many of us have disconnected from it out of fear of not belonging, being critised or simply because we were lured in by the trappings of the ego and the modern would.
When we disconnect from our true nature we start living a life that is less creative, not authentic and not on purpose. However, if we take the time to slow down, quiet within and re-connect with our true nature then our inner creative muse will flow naturally.
We are all born for a purpose and have come to this world to serve in some way. However, all too often the more we strive for things the busier and more stressed we become, especially as we take on more responsibilities. As a result, our mental chatter tends to become noisy, drowning out our passions and causing us to forget about our purpose.
Thank you for joining me for week 9 of the Everyday Miracles Course. Today we will be finding ways to invite our own creative muse to rise within. There is also a connecting with creativity meditation that goes along with today’s lesson.
***Todays lesson is accompanied by a meditation below. You can access all audio meditations and lessons for this course here [YouTube] or sign up to our Podcast
Maybe you think you don’t have a creative bone in your body? I invite you to reconsider that belief.
Every single person in the world is creative, whether they think it or not.
If you are someone who has opted out of thinking of yourself as creative because you can’t paint, sing or draw – that’s simply not the case.
Modern culture has caused us to have a very narrow view or definition of what creativity means.
Creative living is about having the courage to bring your true expression forward into the world. You do not have to pursue the creative arts in order to be creative. You also do not have to make big life changes to be creative. Creative living simply means finding a way to express your truest self that brings you joy.
Just the simple act of how you choose to live your life is a form of creativity. All the things that you choose to fill your day with are the brush strokes that paint your life. Every day, you have the opportunity to paint your own life masterpiece. Its ultimately up to you whether you choose to remain blocked or open yourself up to let the Muse flow creatively through you.
You have talents, insights, wisdom and messages to share with the world. The truth is…the world needs your truth….and in the state of world affairs today….the world needs your truth today more than ever.
So how have we become so disconnected to our natural innate ability to be creative? Well…I guess it has something to do with societies preconceived ideas of creativity and the fact that we have a love hate relationship with creativity. Like everything in society, we have bottled, boxed and labelled aspects of creativity as ‘good’ ‘bad’ ‘right’ ‘wrong’ and so forth. There are certain people in society that we regard as creative geniuses and we place them on top of a pedestal, and then there are others we judge as not so worthy of accolades and label them as ‘mad hatters’ ‘dreamers’ or ‘naive.
With this close-minded attitude towards creativity many of us are too afraid to express our own creativity out of fear of criticism and rejection.
But why should we be afraid of doing the things we know deep in our heart that we are meant to be doing. It’s not logical. And it kills the human spirit within. The inner-knowing of the soul runs deep, it knows what is best for us and it knows what our purpose is.
In the ancient times of Greece and Rome, people believed that creativity did not come from humans, and that it was in fact wisdom from a divine being or energy. Creativity was something that flowed through us, a divine energy of creation, a way to ignite thought provoking emotions and spread love-centred messages. Ultimately, creativity was the work of the divine.
But then the Renaissance came and everything changed. People started to attribute creativity to human talent. Our egos took centre stage, it was at this point that humans started to become the centre of the universe. We started to focus on a ‘me’ mentality and slowly pushed out the ‘we’ mentality. We started to drift further away from the divine energy of the universe and became self-important and disconnected to the natural rhythm of the world around us.
This was an era where human rationalisation was born. We started feeding our egos and referring to certain artists as ‘geniuses’, rather than acknowledging that just maybe the artist was simply a vessel that the divine energy worked through.
I can’t help but think maybe this was the era where the human ego was born.
The thought I want to bring forward to you today is:
Let’s start believing in those creative visions, passions and random ideas that we have.
Let’s start turning our dreams into a reality.
Let’s start expressing ourselves more authentically and living a creative life that we can call our own.
Maybe we can’t undo the workings of 500 years of human conditioning. But maybe we can try. Maybe we can take back some time, and ask ourselves a few very important questions, such as “What do I really want to do with my life – what do I want to stand for – what is that one thing that excites me the most?” Or perhaps we could take time to ponder the life changing question of who we were before we thought acquisition or titles where important.
Sure, we are not all painters, writers, singers and so forth. But the wings of creativity spread far wider than those petty boundaries and limits we have used to define creativity. Creativity is about expressing yourself freely and not apologising for who you are, what you stand for and what you want to achieve. Creativity is about setting the ego free so that there is space for your creative muse to move freely within.
Be creative in all aspects of your life and in all that you do. Choose to live every day as an act of art. Seize every heart pounding moment as an opportunity to creatively express your values. Treat each breathing moment as a sacred occasion or living prayer. Cooking is a creative act of art. Speaking up for what you believe in is a creative act of art. Learning to forgive is a creative act of art. You have the power to creatively express yourself in whatever way resonates with you.
We all have the ability to tap into the creative muse and co-create. When new projects, new ideas and new ways of understanding your life arise – choose not to overthink the process – instead go with it and see where it takes you. When creativity and inspiration comes to you in this way – don’t try and stop it or control it – just go with it – let it flow through you.
Wherever you are, whether it is at work, in the garden or in the car on your daily commute to work, always listen out for that gentle guidance or that inner voice. The creative muse is with you everywhere. It does not discriminate – everyone has an opportunity to build the connection at any time. You just need to choose to live each moment from a place of awareness and mindfulness.
You don’t need to be doing some fancy yoga pose on a mountain top to receive the creative inspiration. The creativity and inspiration can come to you in a constant stream, you can connect to it at any time – no matter whether you are gardening, cooking, meditating or sharing a pot of tea with a good friend. The ultimate goal is to be able to tap into your own inner creative muse and have the awareness to listen to it when it speaks to you.
There are many ways of being that can help you cultivate your own creativity and connect with your own creative muse. Today I will share some of my favourites that I find help me develop a deeper awareness to my connection to the ever-present creative source of all that is. Let’s begin:
Set the intention to connect with your creative muse: Get in the habit of taking time to quieten yourself down so that you can hear what your creative muse has to say to you. Do those things that quieten you down whether it is meditation, a gentle walk or a nurturing ocean swim. Remember there is no urgency to hear the call, for you don’t need to prove yourself or compare any of your accomplishments to those of others. You have already arrived. You have a unique gift to offer this world, and you are unique in the entire history of creation. So, if inspiration is taking its time to speak to you – then in the meantime follow anything that brings you joy.
Pay Attention to your thoughts: Listen more carefully to your inner insights, no matter how small or insignificant you may have previously judged them to be. Inspiration and creativity speak to you via your thoughts. So, no matter how silly something may seem, if the thought persists then it is definitely worth following up. Thoughts that don’t go away are generally inspiration and creativity speaking to you, urging you to take action.
Be brave and take action: Drop self-doubt and follow the call of inspiration. Any step in the direction of expressing yourself creatively is a step in the direction of actualising the muse that resides within you—for example, starting a garden, writing a book, taking tennis lessons or seeking out something new that peaks your interest.
Learn to co-exist with fear: Fear really is a killer of creativity and true self-expression, and it is the number one reason why people abandon their own creativity and hide behind the I’m-not-creative mask.
You don’t need to be fearless to live a creative life, however you do need to be brave.
Fear will always exist. In fact, it is dangerous to not live with a little fear, for the number one goal of fear is to make you safe. So, when you are wanting to live a creative expressive life, not only do you need to drop the need to be approved by others, but you must also make peace with fear. Yes, it is scary putting yourself out there, but I promise it gets easier the more you do it.
It is dangerous to not live with some degree of fear, so instead of trying to banish fear all together choose to make room for fear by having a healthy respect for it and living with it in a way so that it does not control and overwhelm you.
Detach from all outcomes: It’s so easy to get caught up in the outcomes, results, metrics and opinions of others when we work on something new. All you need to do is show up and give your creativity your all and do the best you possibly can, but also detach from what the results of the creativity are.
When you’re creating something or expressing yourself in a brand-new way treat it like it is the most important thing in the world to you, but at the same time hold the belief that the outcome is irrelevant.
Express your creativity without needing outside approval and push past self-doubt. You do not need some advanced degree or external validation to pursue those things that peak your interest. Find joy from the creative process itself, not from external markers of success. Find joy when the process is difficult. Find joy when your creative work fails to be noticed and appreciated by others.
Creativity is meant to spark joy within the heart, it is the way the soul expresses itself so choose to not take it so seriously. Take a light and breezy approach to creativity.
Relying on creativity for your own financial stability can suffocate inspiration. Create to create. Create because it brings you joy. Not because you believe it may bring you success or validation. Get the creative work done without worrying about the results.
Create for the sake of creating and be okay if your creativity does not serve a purpose. Stop putting external pressures on your creativity.
Simply show up, do the best that you can and then simply let it go.
Remove Doubt and Resistance: Stop resisting to the call of creativity and inspiration. Resistance shows up in the form of your thoughts. Watch for thoughts that try to convince you of your inability to be creative. Thoughts of doubt about your abilities . . . or thoughts that reinforce what you believe about yourself and your lack of creative talent or lack of aptitude. Catch yourself when you start thinking things like “who do I think I am that I can create this or live this way” or “if I follow up and take action on what I know to be true in my heart others will deem me crazy, unworthy and so forth”.
Take refuge in knowing that your creative muse is there to support you. Resistance and doubt will inhibit you from realising your own creativity.
Follow your curiosity and embrace care-free wandering: When inspiration is lacking, turn towards curiosity and follow whatever piques your interest, no matter how random it may seem.
If you have lost enthusiasm or ‘that spark’ for life, don’t sweat it. Back off for a while. But don’t go idle, either. Make an effort to seek out a new adventure and allow for a little carefree wandering. Take a trip, a trip anywhere, somewhere you have never been. It could be your local farmers market, a local art or language class or it could be offering your services to your local animal shelter. If you’re not sure where to start then just go somewhere that piques your interest a little, because the thing about new adventures and carefree wandering is that with their humble, roundabout ways – you never know what you will find.
At the very least, carefree wandering will keep you pleasantly distracted while life sorts itself out. At the very most, carefree wandering will give you a deeper understanding and respect for all of life.
My advice to you – next time when a new idea piques your curiosity, even if you can’t see any relevance to your other activities, give it the benefit of the doubt and follow it up. You never know where it will take you.
Living in this space of curiosity will naturally lead to untapped sources of inspiration and unexpected forms of creative expression.
Follow the call of inspiration no matter what: When we get an idea or dose of inspiration to create something for others to enjoy it is all too easy to get caught up in thinking that there’s no point trying because it’s all been done before?
The truth is that it probably has been done. Most things have been done – but they have not been done by you before.
If this thought stopped people from creating, then nothing would ever be created again, because at the end of the day all new creations are just something old with a new expression or driver at the wheel.
No matter how many people have done it before, it really does not matter, because it has not yet been done by YOU, in your way, by your unique self.
Your creativity owes you nothing: Connecting with creativity in order to bring something new into the world is an honour, it is a gift from the divine and it does not owe you anything, at all.
Expecting or chasing rewards and acknowledgement for your creativity does not serve you or your creative inspiration. Inspiration and creative ideas are a conscious living thing, they are born from divinity, and they have a purpose and will. If the seeker fails to hear the call of inspiration, then it will move on to someone else.
As you begin to recognise evidence of creativity and inspiration arising within, remain humble while staying in a state of gratitude. Those who attribute their inspiration and creativity to their own human ego lose their capacity to create greatness, while also allowing the opinion, validation and appreciation of others to validate them.
You are simply the vessel. The inspiration and creativity flowed through you. Be grateful for this gift. Practice radical humility. Take no credit for your natural talents, abilities, artistry, or proficiencies. Live in that sacred space where you allow and know that a force greater than your human ego is always at work and is always available to you.
Look for the good in others: Start seeking out the greatness in others. Observe others and spend energy on unearthing their creativity and appreciating their authenticity. When you appreciate others with sincerity it becomes natural for you to apply the same standards to yourself. By living in this state, you’ll radiate loving, kind, abundant, creative energy. In a universe that operates on energy you will attract love, kindness, abundance and creativity into your own life.
Simplify the mind: Forget the need to strive and become. Instead just sit in appreciation for who you authentically are. The act of just “being” is enough. Take the complications, rules, shoulds, musts, have-dos, and so on out of your life. Un-complicate your life and mind by dropping the pettiness, trivial pursuits and the trappings of modern-day life. Do this and you will open a channel for the creative muse within you to emerge and speak to you. The more conscious contact you make with your own true nature then the more you can appreciate your highest self. It’s from this place of the higher self that your creative muse speaks to you.
Appreciate and express your authentic self: We only have one purpose in this life and that is to unconditionally love ourselves, whilst living each day expressing our truest authenticity and leaning into the things that bring us great joy.
The more you value yourself the more other people value you and the more of a difference you can make. We live in a world that doesn’t support us to be who we are and express our truths. We are conditioned to believe we are not good enough and that we have to be constantly striving for better. We live in a culture of competition, a culture that causes us to lose touch with our true self.
When we are lost we seek our self-worth and self-power in external things, but when we know, appreciate and express our own authentic self it becomes easier to appreciate other people and we become much more ourselves.
You are not here to live in fear and waste hours consumed with thoughts that you are not good enough and don’t measure up. Each and every one of us are amazing unique magnificent beings who have something different to bring forth into the world. Your soul’s purpose is to simply be yourself, do things that bring you joy and express yourself in your own creative way.
Imagine what the world would look like if we lived our most authentic selves in a culture of collaboration. Now, that is the type of world I believe is possible when we allow our creative muse to arise within.
Lean into what you love: The most valuable thing in life is our time. People worry about making money, getting promotions, being recognised and so forth. These external factors come and go but time doesn’t.
Time matters, so make every minute count and put value into doing things that bring you great joy and a sense of lightness within.
When we put a high value on our life it changes. You will no longer settle for ways of living that don’t bring you joy. You no longer feel the need to do things because they are expected of you.
If something is not making you happy, have the courage to let it go and move on to the next thing. Life should not feel like hard work and one big chore. You should love your life and live it with a sense of ease. When you live in this space of honouring what you love, the creative muse will naturally rise within.
Trust in your own creativity and it will honour you in return
Whatever it is that you feel is your calling or whatever it is that excites you – trust that this is what you should become. Never lose your enthusiasm, no matter what others may think. When you’re in touch with your own creative muse you are offering the world your authentic talents – you are in a state of alignment and living your life on purpose.
Creativity is inside all of us, it is the expression of the soul. It is not selfish, childish, crazy or foolish to follow the call of inspiration and creativity — it is, in fact, the only way to inner freedom.
Find some time in your life to do something you really enjoy, for no reason other than you really enjoy it.
Trust in your own inner calling and ignore unconstructive criticism and judgement from others. Nay-sayers and critics will always exist, by all means listen to constructive critism but drop any feedback that does not serve you well.
The truth is that the world needs to hear your message – even if many can’t see its value and choose to reject it.
There is an endless reservoir of talent and ideas inside of you, and if you allow them to rise up and flow through you, then you will serve the world in ways that you never thought possible.
All that excitement within you is all the evidence you need for your inner passion to become a reality.
Whatever it is that you want to do – be a teacher, care-giver, cleaner, builder, gardener, good friend – do it with your own authentic flair. Apply your own uniqueness to everything you undertake.
Do you have the courage to bring forth the creativity, inspiration, authenticity and gifts that are within you?
I’ll leave you with one of my favourite lines from Liz Gilberts book Big Magic:
“And you have treasures hidden within you—extraordinary treasures—and so do I, and so does everyone around us. And bringing those treasures to light takes work and faith and focus and courage and hours of devotion, and the clock is ticking, and the world is spinning, and we simply do not have time anymore to think so small.”