|
|
CREATIVITY TO THE MAX!
HOW TO UNLEASH YOUR CREATIVE SPIRIT
The only way to be able to actually unleash your creative spirit (assuming you have sufficient skill in the medium of your choice), the only way you can create Great Art - is this: AWARENESS OF THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN RIGHT BRAIN AND LEFT BRAIN ACTIVITIES - AS IT HAPPENS.
How in the world does one do that? Well, let me give you an example so that you can see for yourself how this works. Something familiar to you - something we all do a lot of - ARGUING WITH OURSELVES! About anything. About whether or not to do something, go somewhere or not, and so on.You may be wondering what this has to do with Art, but I'll get to that in a minute.
In order for you to understand how our Intuition and Intellect usually interact and relate to one another, I'll first demonstrate what happens when we argue with another person.
Pay attention now. When we engage in an argument with someone, we are aware of the words that are spoken - ours and the other person's. Of course we are aware of the words! WORDS ARE THE MEANS BY WHICH THE ARGUMENT IS MADE! We set out to persuade the other person by using WORDS - words that can be subtle or quite blunt - words that are sometimes reinforced with emotions for extra impact.
So, in an argument, do we not attempt to persuade the other person with words and emotions that are position is correct, and for the other person to yield to our pressure?
ARGUING IS A FORM OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE WHOSE POSITIONS ARE AT A VARIANCE TO EACH OTHER!
We've all experienced this, and we've all seen how often the person who shouts the loudest, makes the most commotion, and is the most emotional for the longest period of time "wins" and gets his way (meaning the other calmer person just kind of retreats into the background), and the noisy one ends up being "center stage". OK, so this is what happens when we argue with someone else, but what about when we argue with ourselves? How does that relate to anything?
 |
|
WHAT GOES ON IN OUR HEADS
WHEN WE ARGUE WITH OURSELVES?
Actually, as we argue with someone else, so do we argue with ourselves. Or rather our Selves. What? Yes! There are at least two of us in there! It is amazing, but true, as you will see. And you'll recognize it as something we do all the time when we are painting!
When we argue with our Selves we use a lot of words (and emotions), too, don't we? Remember the last debate you had with your Self - the mental STREAM OF WORDS, spouting lots of reasons, whys and wherefores to justify why you should or shouldn't do something?
THAT WAS ONE OF YOUR SELVES COMMUNICATING WITH THE OTHER ONE - AND YOUR TWO SELVES WERE AT A VARIANCE TO EACH OTHER!
|
Honestly now, if you stop to think about it, isn't it true that that is exactly HOW we normally make decisions. That is the exact process we use to arrive at a decision - any decision - momentous decisions and seemingly inconsequential decisions - every day! We do this when we are painting, too!
We actually engage in a debate with our SELVES, using a torrent of WORDS and EMOTIONS to "win" the argument. WORDS and EMOTIONS belong to the LEFT BRAIN department - the INTELLECT!
In fact, when our forceful Intellect triumphs over our gentle Intuition, that is when we find ourselves doing things "anyway". Watch out! When you do something "anyway" you later realize that you made an error because you went against your "BETTER KNOWLEDGE". We say: "I really knew better, but I did it anyway". Sound familiar? Think about what that means! I am sure that you have had many experiences like this that, in retrospect, turned out to be the wrong thing to do.
But we can prevent mistakes like this from happening again! Because: ONE OF OUR SELVES KNOWS WHAT'S RIGHT! Our quiet and wordless "better knowledge". All we have to do is give it our ATTENTION.
Imagine what this could do for your art - relying on your Better Knowledge in real time - not in retrospect!
The other Self wants to do what IT wants to do, which is ALWAYS wrong! This Self is concerned with our ego, our opinion of ourselves, our image of ourselves, and what other people think of us, fearful of making mistakes, our self-centered subjective Self is concerned with engineering questionable "desirable" results by hook or by crook.
Shouldn't we be concerned with what is truly, objectively RIGHT, without regard to possible consequences? Then only what is truly, objectively, Right would happen. This sort of unquestionable objectivity is the exclusive area of the RIGHT BRAIN - our Intuitive spirit.
It's in the WORDS! And the EMOTIONS! We've come to relate only to, and depend only on, WORDS - and emotions. WORDS have become our only means of gaining knowledge - WORDS govern our lives and our art. But it was not always this way.
|
|
Back when you and I were children and had the spirit of a child, we were naturally close to our other, inner Self - that part of us that we are here referring to as our Intuitve center. We had a very close relationship with our Intuitive source of knowledge then. With our childlike creative spirit, we feared nothing, we explored everything, and we trusted it without reservation.
We, being grown-up artists, can be like this again! Not childish - but childlike. We can again fear nothing, explore everything and trust our Intuitive spirit without reservation! Because, at our center lies our Intuition - it is natural, it is innate - we were born with it. And it is perfect. We still have it. We just have to learn to relate to it again the way we used to as a child.
When were children and had a strong connection with our Intuitive spirit, we were FREE spirits. We saw the truth/reality - we could see that the emperor was wearing no clothes. And in our "innocence" (read truthfulness) we told what we saw - the truth. This, of course, became a threat to adults who were conditioned and programmed to believe that the emperor was the EMPEROR and was, of course, beautifully dressed. Because they believed it, they could see it! All of society believed it - and could see it! If all of society could see it, then it must be so!
So, our free spirit was "trained" out of us until we became programmed like everyone else. We were taught what was beautiful, ugly, right, and wrong. What we should or should not say or do. What was acceptable and what wasn't. Rules, rules, rules and more rules. All this was accomplished through words and emotion, bringing overwhelming and continuing pressure to bear until we yielded - we were only children, after all. This is how we were "educated" by our parents, school system, and society to relate first and foremost to a foreign source of knowledge as if it were the fountain of truth, and that our Intellect was the most important of our faculties. That's because it could be trained, of course. Not so our Intuition - it remains free, untouched and unchanged no matter what happens.
AWARENESS of our place of Better Knowledge - our Intuitive source of knowledge - will, when we listen for its quiet voice and give it our attention, reveal the proverbial emperor in all his glory, i.e. we will see reality - truth.
And, obviously, reality/truth is the perfect standard against which all things can be seen for what they actually are, instead of what we are programmed/conditioned to believe they are. We are truly blessed to have this inborn quality through which we CAN improve ourselves by simply checking with our "Better Knowledge department", to see if what we want to do is Right or not. We can regain our childlike FREE SPIRIT. We can regain our creative powers - and lose our fear and frustration.
In painting, it works best when you ASK YOUR SELF A QUESTION THAT CAN BE ANSWERED WITH A SIMPLE YES OR NO. For example: Should I add this object to my still life? Then bring your attention to your quiet Intuitive center and wait to receive a sense of approval or disapproval (yes or no). It will be there. It is as easy and simple as that, with any yes or no question you need answered. It is always the Right answer. And it requires NO EFFORT. In fact, it only works without effort! Again, IT ONLY WORKS WITHOUT EFFORT!
Pay attention now: If you find yourself struggling and getting frustrated it is because your personal, self-involved, ego-self is exerting effort against what we know is Right. It is evidence of interference by the tyrannical Intellect! It's the WORDS! The Intellect is basically a "control freak" when we are trying to truly know what is the Right thing to do. The action of the subjective ego-based intellect vs. the truth-based objective intuition is like the immovable object meeting the irresistible force. It causes stress. The answer is to put the intellect in its proper place - it's proper place is to be subject to our intuitive center.
In the decision-making process, the Intellect actively works AGAINST our Intuitive knowledge by exerting its will over it and then justifying that action (with words and emotions, of course). This is the stress and frustration we feel when we are painting. Stress and frustration are EVIDENCE of our Intellect's exertion of great effort to try to control our uncontrollable Intuition (our free spirit!).
|
|
THINK BETTER - PAINT BETTER! Practice Intuitive Thinking and rely on your inner Teacher! Intuitive Thinking is the secret to creating True Art! Be aware, though, that great progress in your art is not instantanious. Intuitive Thinking leads to a fundamental change in how you relate to art - and everything else. Inner changes will occur and realizations/revelations will happen at a pace that is Right for you and Good for you. Remember, it cannot be "willed" to happen as fast as you might want. Each incremental change takes you to a higher level of seeing and understanding truth and reality. There is no substitute for Intuitive Thinking. You know, after 50 years, I have seen no evidence that there is a limit to what our Intuition can reveal to us! This is really-heavy duty stuff, isn't it? Please contact me, Maria Smith, with any questions you may have. Just click on the link below. I'll be happy to personally answer your questions.
LINKS to other WEBSITES can be accessed either
on the PREVIOUS page, or on the NEXT page.
To go to the next page, please click on "THINKING and ART" on the left side of this page.
I hope you are enjoying learning about Intuitive Thinking!
|
|
|
|
 |
