Your 7-Step Creativity Guide

We are innately creative beings. As a child, we used our untethered imagination to create entire worlds, whether we were playing “house” with our favorite dolls, building sand castles at the beach, or impersonating our unbeatable superhero. Enter adulthood ̶ the time we unfortunately yield to the belief or indoctrination of society that as we age, our brains lose their capacity to reconstruct, develop, proliferate, & transform.

In the not too distant past, scientists believed that once we reach adulthood, our brains were “hardwired” and we no longer had the ability to form new neural connections. In the past two decades, however, this idea has been refuted. A myriad of studies (e.g. “Adult-Born Neurons Modify Excitatory Synaptic Transmission to Existing Neurons”) have documented that the brain has a quality called “plasticity” ̶ the ability to form new neural pathways well into aging years. The brain is extraordinarily fluid, supple, and phenomenally adaptable to new experiences. What is the profundity of neural plasticity? It is what allows you to teach yourself to play the cello, to teach yourself French, or take up cliff diving.

You should stop thinking that you are not a creative or imaginative person and recognize that your very existence is evidence of your innate creativity. You are co-creating your life with every thought, every intention, every word, and every action. Your creative potential is unlimited because the field of infinite possibilities is inherently your true home ̶ pure consciousness.     

How do you recapture the excitement, curiosity, and fascination of youth? You do it by learning to reawaken your creativity. Ponder this observance of the ancient Vedic sage of India: “The secret of immortality is infinite flexibility & creativity.”

What is creativity? It is the process of transforming the raw materials, information, and energy of the universe into something that before has never existed. Whether you are creating a new enterprise, an original music piece, or a relationship, creativity dictates a leap in awareness.

For my own life, I have found author & spiritual leader Deepak Chopra’s seven steps for re-imagining my creative response as an invaluable resource. Use this process for any challenge ̶ business, relationship, healing, the arts, etc. 

Let’s put this creative process to work on a personal level. Consider the example of Teresa, a woman who is constantly up-tight because her spouse isn’t living up to her standards. She believes the time he spends at work and being a spectator of sports with friends is too much. As a way to deal with her increasing distress, Teresa turns to food for comfort ultimately eating more & gaining weight.

Let’s break down how Teresa can apply the creative process step-by-step.

1.      Clarify Intended Outcome: Annotate a clear vision of what you want and review it regularly. 

      Teresa first clarifies her intended outcome which is to feel good about herself, create a more loving relationship with her husband, and take better care of her health.  

2.      Gather Information: Be open to multiple resources ̶ books, internet (validate resources), lectures, workshops, exploring spiritual literature ̶ without judgment.                                                                                                              

      Teresa commits herself to learn as much as she can about her situation through reading several books on relationships. This helps her gain some new perspectives.                                                                                                                                                                             

3.      Reshuffle Information: As you cull information from different resources, a reshuffling of data at both your conscious and subconscious levels takes place, formatting it in whatever ways are most useful.                                                                                                                                               

      As she culls information from her readings, this information is rearranged at both her conscious & subconscious levels. This allows her to organize the information in ways that are most valuable to her.

4.      Incubation & Meditation: Something entirely new eventually comes about in your awareness at the intersecting point where your intention is formed; your information is gathered, and reorganized. Meditation enables you to delve into the domain of spiritual intelligence where the source of all ideas, insights, & inspiration emanate.                                                      

      

      Teresa learns how to meditate and develops a recurrent, daily meditation practice. As a result, she begins to feel more centered and relaxed.

5.      Insight: Your perceptions and interpretations completely shift when you experience insight.    And you ultimately have a new inner vision of whatever issue you are considering.        

      

      During a session of meditation, Teresa suddenly realizes she has been longing for her friends. And that her resentment has been percolating due to her husband experiencing something she would like for herself.

6.      Inspiration: The manifestation of insight produces the spontaneous generation of inspiration. The union of your body & mind is energized when you see things in a new light giving way to excitement and joy.                                                                                                                  

      Inspired, Teresa decides to visit an old college roommate who lives in another part of the state. Her experience (visit) is so enjoyable that her attitude shifts completely.

7.      Implementation, Integration, Incarnation: This last step is to implement whatever idea or change has evolved in your consciousness by means of the previous steps. As you integrate the insight into your thinking and behavior, you incarnate the change in your body. And as a result, you are transformed.                                                                                                                                                              Teresa begins working out and eating healthier. As a consequence, not only does her relationship with her self improve, but all of her relationships get better as well.

As you encounter the vicissitudes of life, begin to see every challenge as an opportunity for creativity. The challenges of your life will excite your imagination when you live in accordance with consciousness (higher self-awareness). Keep in mind the field of infinite possibilities is your “true” home to organize the reality you want to live. The higher your awareness, the more potential you have to create. Meditation opens the way to experience “present awareness” and it also takes you outside the ego and its constant need for attention. Cultivate the conditions for taking a creative quantum leap through your meditation practice. When you do, you will experience the all-encompassing state of bliss.

Transformation is always creative.