The Year of Creative Energy - 2013

Wow! It feels as if we have been shot out of a time cannon from the year 2000 into 2013. It is exciting, depressing, challenging, mysterious and adventurously curious all at once. So the big questions are What will this year bring? and Are we ready for it?

The Year of Creative Energy?
As I was researching the many interpretations of the numerological meaning of 2013, the idea of creativity kept popping up. So I figured, it needed to be summarized. A few short words, were required that could be easily remembered. As I venture into the unknown region of middle middle age, either my memory is getting worn out or I am developing ADD....so a few short words is both good and absolutely necessary.

Not only do the words have to have the shortness requirement, but they need to hit strongly. The magic wand was spun and out came The Year of Creative Energy. It has a nice feel and ring to it, don't you think! So what exactly does this mean?

As I pondered this question, I found myself in a paradoxical state. Normally I have more creative juice flowing through my veins than I know what to do with. The problem has always been to stay focused enough to finish the task once the idea was generated. My tendency too often has been to immediately ride the next creative wave that came crashing into my mind, rather than waiting for the subsequent one, so I could fully complete what I was doing. But over the last few months a strange change has been looming on the horizon.

I can feel it but can't identify it. A change that is edging closer but is still completely out of focus. As I observe this, it has put me into a holding pattern. I feel a transformation of mammoth proportions edging closer but as it does I am in a freeze frame of non-ideas. Now this is really strange. Where once the onslaught of new ideas were streaming in non-stop, it now is difficult to describe it as even a trickle. Have you been experiencing this?

I remember sitting with a group of friends years ago and one said " I have no passion." She felt she needed a passion to keep life interesting and exciting. I thought then, there will never be a time when I am wanting for something exciting to do, there are so many things that excite me that I may never get to them all before this life term expires.

Fast forward to the present and I am struggling with these questions: What really excites me? What do I want to do now with my life? What is it I want to create? And on top of it all, I am pressured by the arrival of 2013 The Year of Creative Energy! So, yes it is very much a paradox! Let me ask, at the risk of being overly redundant, am I alone in this or are you going through something similar?

And that being said, it is time to move along...to begin the thaw from frozen state to flowing water..to fully explore this new landscape..to begin this decade with a blueprint of trying to define what it is I was to create as I move forward. How about you? Where are you in this flow of creative energy? Frozen, thawing or flowing?

Creating is a Verb
Creating is a verb. Energy is a verb. Both will require some type of movement and action in order to manifest into a unique life form. So how do we get there? It involves a bit more than waking up one morning, opening up the bedroom window and shouting loudly out into the world, " Hey world, I am going to be the queen of creative energy today!!" How do I know? I tried it. It didn't work. After almost 10 minutes of trying to blaze a path through the clutter to the window so it could be opened, I was hit with a strong blast of cold air that took my breath away. The words that came streaming out were barely audible. I quickly slammed the window shut. Then I waited and wandered around the house all day. Waiting for what? Why-- that creative light beam to boomerang back from the universe -- to come in and poof! Like magic, ignite me with a fountain of creativity that would put me in a manic state of activity. Hmm, did I mention, it didn't work

Steps to Get Started
So if you have a front row seat at the same show I am currently attending- let's just get up and walk out. Let's start something new. Let's get a fire lit under us. Let's declare "Time for a Change". So what do we do? How do we start? Well with one action step at a time of course!

Here are some suggestions of ways to shake things up a bit, move away from the routine, stir up some creative energy, and hopefully in the process ignite a new passion, perspective, or direction that will propel each of us into new heights of life.

1: Develop a Different Routine
Pick one aspect of your daily ritual of routine and decide to intentionally do it differently. It doesn't have to be a big life altering part of your day just something simple. As a result of this change in routine, it may spark something inside, you may see something in a new way, or you may encounter an opportunity that would have never presented itself before. When we are out of our comfort zone/routine, we see a fresh new canvas before us.

2. Practice Daydreaming
This has always been one of my favorites, daydreaming. The possibilities are endless, like magic anything you want appears. I become it all-- lion tamer, lead actress in a blockbuster movie, head negotiator at the peace talks, Olympic skater, jackpot winner, thrill seeker, astronaut, crime scene investigator, criminal profiler, etc. I can daydream in techno-color with full details and dialog between characters. A lot of great ideas have come from tapping into this pool of resources.

3. Go Some Place with Lots of Eye Candy
Is there a place near by that is just filled with a lot of inspirational things to look at? I can remember last year when we were on a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico I was nearly jumping out of my skin with excitement and really looking forward to getting home to create. The town was just bursting with creative development. Walking through the shops, the streets, the museums, the attractions was such an adrenaline rush of ideas. Find an environment close by to where you live that can do the same thing for you.

4. Problem Solve
Take a nagging problem that tends to occur regularly in your life. Examine it from all angles. Look at ways you can solve the problem in an interesting or unusual manner. I kept getting annoyed at all the stuff we have around the house, so my direction now is to create functional artwork. Using the stuff I no longer want but can't seem to get rid of, I am attempting to recycle and re-purpose it and then sell it online or at craft fairs. Most of what I am making is art work for the yard-- such as bird feeders, birdhouses, yard plaques, signs and decorations.

5. Sit with Mother Nature
When all else seems to fail, finding some time to go out and seek a personal audience with Mother Nature, often provides the right combination needed. A reconnection at this level provides a deep sense of inner balance and harmony which then always helps us to move the clouds away and feel the spirit that flows within and surrounds us completely. When we reunite at this level-- all things are possible.

There you have it, a few ideas to start with, to hopefully get those of us needing some direction a springboard to jump from. So, let's go off and make it one hell of a Creative 2013!

How to Channel More Creative Energy

Do you sometimes feel anxious for no apparent reason? Great!... You could be on your way to tapping into some extra creative energy. The eminent, existential psychologist Rollo May suggests that: "Anxiety is associated with creativity. Anxiety means the world is knocking at your door, and you need to create, you need to make something, you need to do something. It is a stimulus toward creativity." Easy to say until you start feeling anxious. So before we look at creativity let's reflect on some of the causes of anxiety? Anxiety can be a reaction to certain unwanted life conditions. A person, place or thing may upset us and the first reaction to something we don't want is to run away from it. Therefore anxiety generates energy within us.

But some of us use this energy to try to avoid anxious feelings and thoughts by numbing them with alcohol or drugs. Others sublimate their anxious energy by 'doing' things like making or spending money, seeking thrills and physical pleasures. The problem is that often these things do not lead to any real or permanent satisfaction. However creating or making something can give us a deeper sense of achievement, purpose and satisfaction. Those who have successfully built a cupboard or a piece of furniture, cooked a fabulous meal, painted or drawn a picture, created and tended a garden landscape or decorated a home will have experienced this.

We can think of anxiety as having 4 dimensions and 3 levels.

The 4 dimensions begin with the physical aspects of human being:
-Physical anxiety is triggered by threats to our physique and physical well being. For example a violent attack, the experience of dangerous environments, diseases, hunger and thirst.
-Emotional anxiety is closely connected to the physical in that we translate physical experiences into emotions such as fear, pain, pleasure, happiness and love.
-Intellectual anxiety is triggered by the thoughts we construct in our minds based on our stored information, knowledge, ideas and beliefs about life and the world in which we live.
-And finally Spiritual anxiety can be triggered by an infringement of our personal boundaries. These are set by what we value, the ethics and morals we hold dear and the personal meaning we give to life.

Of course these four dimensions are interconnected and inseparable in a healthy functioning human being. However when our four dimensions are integrated we have access to tremendous amounts of personal energy to apply creatively. The three levels can be thought of as:
-Conscious
-Subconscious and
-Unconscious

The first level is the anxiety that we are Conscious of and are consciously dealing with directly in the tasks, challenges and problems we face day to day. These are situations, people, places and things we recognise as the obvious causes of our anxious feelings.

The next level of anxiety is Subconscious and connected to real concerns and worries we have about certain situations in life; health, relationships and money for instance. However in order to get on with life we tend to put these worries to the back of our minds. But the energy and feeling of 'background' anxious thoughts is always present and can leave us feeling a tightness in the chest or with a queasy tummy.

Feelings of hunger, dehydration, hormone imbalance or even uncomfortable clothing are often first experienced and registered Unconsciously but they can surface as bad feelings that get attached to environments or people we interact with. It is an interesting fact to note that most daily anxiety we experience is unconscious and free floating that starts life as a physical symptom. For instance - we might suddenly experience the normal actions of a colleague or friend as annoying when in fact we are just feeling hungry or thirsty. We can then unconsciously translate these physical feelings into emotions and thoughts that we then express and turn into actions which create an event with a negative outcome.

So how can anxiety become a source of creative energy? There is much research to suggest that doing something creative is a good cure for anxiety and some very creative people draw on anxious feelings for inspiration and energy. For example - the celebrated poet and writer T.S. Eliot S (1888 - 1965) believed - "Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity" and the philosopher Charles Frankl (1917 - 1979) thought that - "Anxiety is the essential condition of intellectual and artistic creation." I think we can trust that these people had something of value to say on the subject.

How do we reconcile anxiety with creativity? The first thing is to recognise that anxiety is fundamentally about the fear of the unknown and directly related to the fear of death. Creativity can be thought of as a response to the fear of death and destruction. A good example of creativity in action is the interplay between high and low entropic states in the universe which scientists are beginning to believe caused the most creative momet ever 'The Big Bang'. Or rather the 'big expansion' as it's fast becoming known.

The most fundamental act of creativity expressed by human beings is the act of procreation and it is well document that during war time and disaster birth rates increase. The psychologist Stephen Diamond Ph.D. offers that: "Anxiety stems from conflict and creativity is an attempt to constructively resolve that conflict." So the trick is learning to use feelings of anxiety to generate the energy to face life's challenges head on and respond rather than escape from them. Creativity can then begin to be about facing our fear and finding the courage to create. To do that we must be willing to take a risk.

I often start a day on creativity by inviting delegates to pair up and draw each other on small PostIt's. After two minutes of drawing I then ask them to show their partner the drawing they have made. At this point many people express anxiety at showing their drawing to the other person for fear of being judged as a terrible artist or offending the person with the likeness (or lack of) they have produced. This is the point at which we openly discuss the relationship between the energy of anxiety and it's impact on creativity. The key is to harness the energy of our anxiety and turn it outwards towards creative action rather than allowing that energy to turn inwards and inhibit us.

Art therapy is an interesting example of how anxiety can be sublimated, relieved and understood through creativity. We need energy to take action so by utilising forms of creative expression to generate energy like drama, writing, drawing, painting, dance and music therapists can work with the nonverbal symbols and metaphors that people produce within the creative process. In this context anxiety is translated into artwork and depression and anxiety can be more easily communicated and understood by the person who is experiencing them.

So next time you feel anxious, first celebrate that you now have the extra energy for some creativity. Secondly check where it's coming from and get strategic. Is the root cause physical, emotional, intellectual or spiritual? Once you've identified the source see if you can harness that energy and reframe your thinking to redirect the anxious energy towards creating something. If you're hungry or thirsty use that energy to create something interesting to eat or drink by combining some tasty or unusual ingredients.

If it's emotional, intellectual or spiritual produce a symbol or representation of your feelings, thoughts and beliefs. It could be a number, an equation or a poem, a sentence, a word or a doodle. Maybe just make a sound; hum or whistle a tune or write a short lyric. Anything that releases your emotional anxiety into the world as an object so you can look at it and maybe share it with others.

Once you get used to making the connection between anxious feelings and creativity you will gradually develop the habit and a new capacity to go directly towards creatively responding to life's challenges. Finally Carl Jung suggests: "If you have nothing at all to create, then perhaps you can just create yourself." After all the more we learn about the universe and our place in it through modern science, quantum physics and evolutionary biology and psychology the more the meaning of life seems to be less about finding yourself and more about creating yourself.