New Article... Read An Excerpt Before It's Published!

I finished working on an article last night titled 'Are You Mistaking Arrogance For Humility?' ~ as soon as it'll be published on Creativity Portal I'll place a link in sidebar. But for now let me share an excerpt below.....be the first one to see it!

Artist’s Musings On Creative Process...

Are You Mistaking Arrogance For Humility?

From a personal experience I can tell you that whenever I’m feeling creatively congested, AKA ‘blocked,’ I’ve had, somewhere along the way, applied a mental-emotional break to the creative flow that’s awaiting its expression. I believe that creativity is NOT of our own making and our free will does not give us a right to determine WHAT will come through us into this visible, 3-Dimensional reality as defined by our five senses. Our control of the process (read ‘interference’) is limited to stalling and stopping our creative expression, or making the so called ‘aesthetic adjustments’ that we hope will render our work ‘acceptable’ by adhering to some illusory standards.

Oftentimes the thwarting of our creative self-expression begins when the process moves into the unfamiliar territory. Perhaps we feel attracted to experiment with a new technique, a new genre, or a new color palette and decide to give it a try. Our uncertainty deepens as we hesitantly begin to explore the unknown creative vistas. Soon two old and familiar companions join us on our journey – doubt and criticism. In order to make their presence tolerable we try to mitigate (read ‘control’) the path of our creative journey. We start running towards the ever-elusive sense of safety by changing the course and heading back for the familiar grounds, or out of panic and desperation, we stop ourselves dead in our creative tracks altogether.

American Heritage Dictionary defines the word ‘humility’ as 'being free from pride and arrogance.' Yet way too often we put the proverbial horse before the cart by mis~perceiving arrogance for humility, particularly in our creative life. The popular message, often clothed in the garments of authority, loudly and unanimously declares the extent of our creative ability, AKA 'talent.' And herein lays the hidden arrogance. ....

.... to be continued....

This morning I've been reading A Course In Miracles and I came across a passage that's very relevant to the subject matter of my article (once you can read it in its entirety).

"The result of genuine devotion is inspiration, a word which properly understood is the opposite of fatigue. To be fatigued is to be de-spirited, but to be inspired is to be in spirit." ACIM T4.1.5-6

In my article I talk about commiting oneself to one's creative self-expression as a Sacred Practice. I use the word 'sacred' in context of devotion and dedication to the Process versus the outcome, or the final product. I sincerely believe that not only we can free ourselves permanently from the so called creative blocks by re~gaining a true perspective on what this beautiful gift of creativity really is that each one of us is so abundantly blessed with and what our role is in its expression. Additionally, we can endlessly deepen and fearlessly explore ever more depth of this creative well within... by expressing our creative gifts and sharing them with one another we begin to remember who we authentically are..... perhaps because our creative journey is a channel to bring the beauty from inside ~ out into the world. What a relief that is in contrast to the endless search for our own identities in the world outside first and trying to bring it inward second..... finally we can let go of this emptiness that is associated with searching for our beautiful Selves in the external.....now we can see it where it always has been and the wonder and beauty of our expression is a timeless witness to who we are in Truth....

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