What is the relationship between spirituality and creativity? The discipline and focused attention cultivated through meditation help us do one thing at a time, totally and absolutely, which greatly enhances our writing.
‘Contemplative practice, daily nature walks, and still, silent listening can be among the best natural meditations. They help clarify our minds and uplift the heart, dissolving our ordinary preoccupations and mental states that dissipate the fertile spirit within. Such daily disciplines are also excellent tonics for our agitated, febrile brains and weary bodies. When we ease into the realm of non-doing–what Chinese Buddhists called wu wei–there is more room for our mysterious, unfabricated inner self to naturally emerge.’ – Lama Surya Das
It’s tough being a writer. Very tough. As Thomas Mann says, A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
Dinty Moore, in his book The Mindful Writer, Noble Truths of the Writing Life, says his lifelong pursuit of writing and creativity has helped to open him to the path of Buddhism:
‘Find inspiration and insight on writing as a spiritual practice through astute quotes, thoughtful advice, and productive exercises on both mindfulness and craft. This isn’t your typical “how to write” book. Author Dinty W. Moore, a well-respected writing coach and teacher, thoughtfully illuminates the creative process: where writing and creativity originate, how mindfulness plays into work, how to cultivate good writing habits and grow as a person, and what it means to live a life dedicated to writing.’ – The Mindful Writer
Here’s to Mindfulness and Meditation to help us on our way through our roller coaster lives as creative writers.
My prehistoric fiction is all out in nature so I’ve found myself listening, noticing, observing my surroundings more than I ever would have before. It is restful. There’s an order there, like the expected creaks in an old house, that rests my brain.
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sounds good jacqui. glad you are able to live in the moment. best of luck with your prehistoric fiction.
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Thanks for sharing this nice piece of content.
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glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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I’ve always thought of creativity as a spiritual practice. You have to go deep within yourself to create something and know how to listen to your intuition, your guidance, angels or what have you.
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exactly Alanna. i agree totally. we have to go deep to create and to be be able to listen and be guided by our intuition. and, yes, sometimes it’s our guardian angels trying to show us the way 🙂
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I have found that the times when my mind is dominant creativity is something that I am pushing and searching for, only to find smaller rations of. But when truth is my dominant state and I am surrendering to myself creativity is a sort of by product and something that flourishes in a deep abundance, really liked your post.
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yes, digging deep for the truth is the way to go. thanks very much for your comment. glad that you are able to observe what works for you creatively.
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Yes, absolutely Libby. Agree with you wholeheartedly about the connection between creativity and spirituality. This is, I think, at the core of Jung’s work that there is a stream of creativity rising up from the unconscious to meet us in strange and interesting ways. Thanks for your article.
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Thanks so much for your comment Sande and for the reminder about Jung’s work re a stream of creativity rising from the unconscious. Such an interesting topic. Glad you agree with my thoughts on the link between spirituality and creativity.
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