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my time is over,” “I’ll never be happy again,” and “I can’t.” The clouds of negativity part and the light of possibility beams down upon you. Mindstrength helps you recognize that in each moment, you can choose to let fear determine your course or to let creativity direct you.
Overcoming the Intimidation Factor
If you’ve never experienced core creativity, or haven’t since you were a child immersed in the magical world of your imagination, it may be hard for you to believe that you could be a true innovator in your life. Many people hold onto the unproductive belief that they aren’t imaginative. Yet, if you think back to your early childhood, you’ll probably recall that you had no such limiting belief. It didn’t occur to you that you couldn’t draw a masterpiece with your crayons or fashion a grand sculpture with Play-Doh. As you matured, your left brain and its rational, logical patterns of thinking began to dominate your right brain’s more intuitive approach to understanding and perceiving. Meanwhile, any unresolved emotional traumas, small or large, affected your perception of
yourself. The desire to be accepted by others caused you to conform to the expectations of the people around you.
While such behavior is adaptive for someone who’s trying to find security within his social group, it cuts off the lifeline to nourishing core creativity. The mind develops a habit of quickly judging which behaviors the group will readily accept and which will be questioned or even ridiculed. The mind dismisses original thoughts before they have a chance to fully form. As a result, by young adulthood, most people have developed an unwholesome belief that they’re not creative, as well as a fear of stepping out into the unknown. Averse to risk, they conform to the expectations of others.
Remember, creativity is about journeying into the dark and mysterious forest of the unknown. It’s not necessarily about participating in the arts, although it can be. Years ago, the married woman who didn’t have a paying job but took care of her husband’s and children’s needs introduced herself as “just a housewife,” unknowingly communicating her belief that such a role couldn’t possibly involve originality. “Housewives” later became
“homemakers,” as women, and even men, began to acknowledge that there was more to tending a home and caring for a family than simply being a “wife” in a “house.” Now, many women, and men too, say that parenting and running a home can be creative work. Academy Award–winning actress Jodie Foster has been quoted as saying that parenting is the most creative thing she has ever done, which is an interesting comment on what constitutes a creative outlet and the experience of creativity.
Like the New York City taxi driver who understood that his job wasn’t simply to transport me from point A to point B, you can let go of the idea that you’re confined by the seemingly unalterable parameters of your life right now. You can begin opening the door to your core creativity and to open-mind awareness. You can stop yearning for the big chance to find a sense of purpose and start experiencing it today, regardless of the mundane items on your agenda.
One of my clients was a single mother who always looked to the next workshop or class to help her find enlightenment and purpose. She was frustrated, because her time and funds were limited, and
