What does it mean to “be creative”? Can anyone have access to creativity or is it reserved only for the “gifted”? Is creativity a construct or a feeling?
According to the Cambridge dictionary, Creativity is the ability to produce original and unusual ideas or to make something new or imaginative. For me, creativity is an innate gift of being human - Everyone is creative. In the same way that life on earth is the expression of creation, creativity is the ability to tap into and access our own inner landscape and respond / express / manifest / actualise in the “outer world". For me, there is a tangibility to creativity, not as a product, but rather a felt sense of internal abundant resource and flow. Like a reservoir that never runs out, creativity is always there to be experienced.
When we attribute creativity to skill instead of an emerging spring of human expression, we numb our own ability to be creative, expressive and responsive. I have the feeling that the suppression of this innate gift is a product of oppression and control (patriarchy). As a child, you’re allowed and encouraged to "be creative", and expressive (if you’re lucky), but as soon as you enter the education system none of that applies - you are taught to sit still, recite and learn material given to you - unless you are gifted in the arts (then you are labelled “creative”).
In my exploration of Somatic Movement, I came across the brilliant work of Liz Koch. Liz is a somatic educator who identifies the Psoas as a sensing organ (much like the tongue), where intuition, life force, expression and creativity emerge from. Her work is all about the hydration of the Psoas with small movements, breath and voice vibration - no stretching, no shaking, no manipulating. Signs that the Psoas is dehydrated can be exhaustion, reactivity, depression, anxiety and an overriding of one’s own boundaries. I feel like we’ve all been in this state of dehydration (more so following the pandemic); reactive instead of responsive, contracted instead of expanded, isolated and separated instead of connecting with people and communing with nature. Taking the time to drop into the body, being with what feels good in that moment, helps shift those disconnections.
In my personal practice, I find that the more presence and pleasure I allow into my cells, the more my creativity is in Flow. Relaxation, micro-movements, attention, care, and gentle touch, help me "resource" and "fill up" my inner creative pool. By softening my gaze, relaxing the body to the ground, and listening to my breathing I access the sensing body. From this inner source and connection, vitality and enthusiasm for life and possibilities emerge. There I feel more fluid, more creative, more responsive and more authentic in my expression.
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