The Art of Creative Living
The Art of Creative Living – Creativity is not something we do, it is something we are
What is the Art of Creative Living
The art of creative living is about crafting your life, or crafting an endeavour, crafting something to conform to a vision, as an artist would an envisioned idea. An etching is created of a vision seen, the colours then filled in and it is brought to life.
So it is with any process of creating, a life lived, a book written, a picture painted, a home functioning rhythmically, a business running along sound and true lines, a life salvaged, a challenge traversed, any visioned piece of work carried out with precision. And all while the inner adjustments to make it happen in the silence of the heart.
Creative living encapsulates the creativity of the soul, it fosters a new vision and a new approach to life experience and expression, one which portrays wonder and beauty and can be expressed in our everyday life and puts you firmly in the driver’s seat.
What is Creativity
Creativity is about accessing the inner, ideas, energies, vision, inspiration, aspirations, even our very being, then setting about the process of expressing it and bringing it into being, into manifestation, making it happen.
This process is the artistry of becoming, of how we construct the vision then bit by bit bring it to life.
So how does an artist do what she or he does? How does one turn a blank canvas or a block of marble or a life or anything into something that is a work of art, or a creative work?
The mechanics or technicalities or procedures of the process are necessary but far more important, the artist needs to believe that she or he can create, that there is inside something that has the power to produce something wonderful, and so it is with the process of creating anything. Creativity is not something confined to the arts.
Creativity is something that belongs to all things in life – the basics of everyday from cooking to relationships, from spirituality to business, from hobbies to more pure art forms. The art of creative living is indeed the process of bringing through ideas that live beyond our general thoughts into our day-to-day life, indeed all things we do can be opportunities for creative living and creative expression.
Suzanne offers a practical approach, a practical mode of thinking of incorporating a sense of the creative and being the creator in all that we do.
Creativity is Not Just Confined to Art
Creativity is not something that is confined to art, but there is always artistry involved in the process of creating something. Whether we know it or not, we are always creating; creating or destroying.
We create the world around us, this world conforms to what and how we think. Thought is creative; creative or destructive.
Our heart beats continually, equally incessant is the pulse of our thought, so are you creating or destroying? Are you creating in the way you want to create? Are you living the life you truly want to live?
Are You Creative?
Yes! Everyone is creative, everyone is constantly creating, the question is are you consciously creating? Creativity is not something we do, it is something we are! It is our birthright. But are we consciously accessing our creative storehouse.
What is Consciously Creating
Conscious creating is about being aware, aware of your inner creative storehouse, a vast power that dwells within us that needs to express itself.
You are the creator of your own life and how you view all the circumstances within it. You are the Director, the Musician and the music, the player and the played. It is about taking charge and creating ‘it’, whatever ‘it’ may be for you, from an idea through into being, and this can be a creative project, an artistic project or your own life.
Are you conscious of how and what you create or do you leave it to chance happening?
The Process of Creating
There is a process of bringing something from bright idea through to your everyday life, to consciously bring it into being.
Step-by-step
Such things do not just happen, great lives do not just happen, they are worked at everyday and worked on step by step. It takes time and a good plan. Vision-Plan-Technique! In that order.
How can we help?
Suzanne can assist you in the process of creating, creating the business you want, the life you want to live, a work of art, a book or to bring that bright idea to life. There may be a nebulous sense that you want to express something but not sure what that is. She can help you it move from darkness and bring it into the light of day. It is a process that brings the creative and logical capacities of our mind together. It is marrying our left and right modes with that of a higher vision that creation happens.
Success vs Fulfillment
Success is an achievement of some objective, of something desired, planned, or attempted.
Fulfillment on the other hand is the completing of something, something long worked at, it brings a feeling of consummation and sense of accomplishment, of deep satisfaction, of realising your capacities of a sorts.
They are different and not mutually exclusive, but one can contain the other.
However, in our modern 24/7 society we are encouraged to and generally seek success, often to the exclusion of fulfillment. We do not usually give much attention to what will bring fulfilment, many of us do not even consider what that would mean in our lives.
For many success is striven for, it is even hungered for. We chase it thinking that once we have it, it will bring satisfaction, but generally what it brings is more chasing for more success and more things that that success brings with it. Success alone cannot bring fulfillment, however, fulfilment can bring success.
I am not saying that success is a bad thing, far from it, we need successes in our lives, we need the markers, we need objectives, we need to strive, we need a sense of achievement, just not at the expense of a deeper fulfilment. Success alone can lead to a sense of emptiness and even an feeling of aridity, leaving us a little battle weary.
Fulfilment on the other hand brings a deeper satisfaction, a deeper sense of accomplishments. It brings with it a sense of harmony having achieved something we know has stretched us, something long wanted, something striven for. It has drawn forth a strength from deep within, extended us, made us grow, brought something out of us we never knew was there. This causes us to continue to extend ourselves, to continue to grow, to continue to find a greater fulfillment.
I in the case of drought – success is the cloud, but fulfilment is rain.
So in fact , it’s not success vs. fulfilment, it is success and fulfilment. We need both.
Balance Your Life / Work
Life in Balance
There is much said these days of work/life balance, balancing the aspects of life and work.
I however come from the view that in order to achieve balance we need to harmonise all aspects of life, which includes work. It is not work or life, it is all life, everything is life and work is only a component of our life.
In our 21st century busy lives it is 24/7 on the go, even our sleep is often not restful. We live our lives out of kilter and after a period it feels perfectly normal. Stressed, but normal. So now we life out of harmony and we don’t even know it. We just feel that something is not quite right in our lives but feel there is not too much we can do about it, “it’s just the way life is.”
We get out of balance when we over focus on one area or aspect to the detriment of others. We become lop sided in our view, polarised towards something or things and other areas do not get a look in. It is as if those areas become malnourished through lack of attention.
So how do find balance in today’s world without compromising the things we deem as valuable?.
Finding Balance
We have to start by analysing what we consider as valuable and see if it is of real intrinsic value to us or just fleeting value. Will it lead to fulfilment or will it bring temporary satisfaction?
I am not talking about values here, I am talking about things that we give value to, your precious time, your energy, your attention to, but firstly we need to acknowledge that you are living out of balance, somehow out of harmony with yourself.
Such a review needs to be thorough—
Where do your current choices lead you?
Do they lead to fulfilment?
Do you know what “fulfilment” even means to you?
What needs to be different?
What needs to be let go of?
What needs to be added?
At this stage we have to be careful not to mistake success for fulfillment.
Having reviewed all areas it’s time to make new choices about how to spend your our time, energy, interactions or where to focus your attention etc. But it is not enough to just make choices, you need to start acting on your choices, which is often difficult as new choices tend to go against the grain of our habitual patterns.
Be persistent and remember why you made the choice in the first place… purpose will bring you back on track.
Creating Great Lives
Great lives just don’t happen they are worked at every day, they start with a shared vision and are built step by step.
Dreaming is one thing, pursuing that dream is quite another…
We can keep things in the realm of our imagination, or we can do something about it.
We can imagine ourselves being or doing this or that but setting about making this or that happen takes effort, it takes planning, it takes daring.
̶ There is a line we have to cross
̶ We have to drive a stake into the sand and say “I will”
̶ Then set about the process step-by-step to make it happen
Great artist, philosophers, poets, musicians, leaders don’t just wake up one day and say “today I am a great musician or great leader”.
They work at it daily, everyday, never letting go of their dream or their passion or their purpose.
They refuse to accept the ordinary, the mediocre, the less than, and this requires courage, dedication, self belief and a driving passion… even on days they fear they will falter, on days their courage weakens, on days their conviction wobbles.
Making dreams a reality requires letting go, a sacrificing of things you could say, letting go of things that do not best serve your vision and purpose of what you are striving for. Knowing you are letting go of the little things for something much greater puts the sacrifice into proper perspective.
Fear of failure, inertia, lack of perceived worth or intrinsic value are things that could undermine us in our pursuit, they could limit us or slow us down – too hard, too much to be confronted, too this or that – need to be seen for what they are. They are no more than a hurdle or obstacle to be overcome in the pursuit of a great life.
Great lives are not just lived by master artist or fine statesmen like Nelson Mandela, they can be lived by anyone. Anyone who is willing to take charge of their life and engage creatively in the process of creating their own life – step-by step.
