Creativity is an important, yet often overlooked, factor in many jobs, and in our personal lives. We think it is only important for artists and musicians, but consider how creativity can improve: The way you deal with people – perhaps that difficult person needs a new approach. Creativity allows you to step outside your usual way of doing things and try something fresh, and it could be the very thing that allows the relationship to re-set so to speak.
The way you do your job – whatever your work, there are different ways to approach things, different solutions to various problems and different ways to deal with issues, deadlines and stress. Mostly we follow the same pattern, even when it isn’t working very well for us, but consider the possible affect of greater contact with the space from which creativity springs. That alone will allow other possibilities to arise; you could come up with a better way, and even if not, simply trying different things can shift something so that things flow more easily. A fresh approach is reinvigorating for everyone involved.
The direction of your life – we tend to accept the options society presents to us without ever considering that we could take a different route. Developing a mind that is familiar with the space from which creativity springs simply opens you to other possibilities. When in that space, solutions naturally arise without effort, a whole world of possibilities can open up.
Your creative activities – authors, artists, musicians, filmmakers, cooks, interior decorators, landscape designers, clothes designers, photographers and so on; many of us do these things as a hobby or as part of living in a house with a garden. Every time we take a photo, choosing how to frame it is a creative decision. Even choosing what clothes to buy and wear together is a creative act, and many of us take home movies and even edit them into something watchable. Creativity touches our lives in more ways than we might think.
Think how much richer life can be and how much more interesting our creative pursuits could be if we open the door to a mental space where true creativity can arise.
We can use our thoughts and feelings to create, and this is, of course, a valid way to work, but little true originality comes this way. However, if you rest your mind in a clear, peaceful state unfettered by thoughts and emotions, a state empty of preconceptions but rich with potential for manifestation, real insight and true creativity can arise. Meditation is what opens the door.
This is how my Diamond Peak Series came into being. The story burst unsought from a clear unfettered mind state. It played out like a movie in my head. All I had to do was write it down (then re-write, edit, edit, and re-edit until it was ready for publication.) My agent liked the vibrancy of the writing and the unique world of the story. The writing I worked on, but I could never have come up with the world of DiamondPeak using my ordinary mind.
This series of four metaphysical fantasy novels not only sprang from a meditative state but also has meditation instructions imbedded in the story. The demons the heroine battles are symbols for her negative emotions and the way she wins her battles are meditation methods for dealing with thoughts and emotions. In fact, the whole thing is an analogy for the Buddhist path to enlightenment. It’s a vast vision, a kind of Buddhist Pilgrims Progress, and I don’t think I would ever had attempted such an ambitious project had the inspiration not had the power inherent in the kind of creativity that springs from a deep mediative state.
Meditation is an excellent way to develop your creativity. Follow these simple instructions or find out more about it on the What Meditation Really Is website.
The full Diamond Peak series is available now on ebook at Amazon and Kobo (for epub devices) and every other major ebook store world wide. Book one, Lethal Inheritance, and book two, Stalking Shadows, are also available in paperback, and the last two, Demon’s Grip and Eternal Destiny, should be available in paperback by the end of the month. I recommend the Book Depository for the paperbacks – free postage world wide.