The Link Between Creativity and Spirituality
Finding presence is one of the most powerful spiritual practices. By way of it, we escape the suffering of the past and the worry of the future and focus simply on the Now. Even though we can hold wonderful memories of the past or delight in hopeful fantasies of the future we still only have power for living in the present—the only moment that is real.
But why does presence work so magically for drawing us into spirit? What is it about such a simple concept that can produce such positive results? I believe my background in architecture may yield the key.
While going through design school I found myself, as you might imagine, in many classes that had an emphasis on the principles of creativity. I found the topic fascinating and wanted to learn as much as possible, likely so I could stroke my ego in being recognized as a creative person.
I think it may not have been until I was out of school that I purchased a book of amazing creative insight by Betty Edwards titled Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Her book’s premise fascinated me then and has stuck with me all these years until I recently was inspired with the connection to presence. The premise she put forth is this—that our dominate left-brain mode of operation (LB) can be “tricked” into handing over control to the more creative right-brain processing mode (RB).
Most of us go about our daily lives in the LB mode. This is a processing mode of our mind that is very linear and logical in nature. 1+1=2 kind of stuff. It’s a thought mode that serves us very well for basic functioning and survival but creativity—not so much.
Creative thought is found primarily in the right side of the brain. Thought here is much more holistic. It sees not function so much as beauty. But the LB is so dominant that few of us get into the RB on a regular basis. Proof in point—how many of us declare with certainty and conviction that we are just not that creative?
The methods that Edwards propose are quite ingenious and really do work. The book includes drawings performed by her students both before her training and after. Suffice it to say that the results are remarkable. By forcing the LB out of dominance the RB comes forward enthusiastically to enjoy its time in the limelight.
It is interesting to note that the RB has been found to have a strong connection to the subconscious. I strongly believe that spirituality, as well, has a similar connection. If we can make a switch into RB mode at will we can find a portal into spirit.
The same type of linear/logical thinking that plagues the creative thinker makes itself known to the spiritual practicer. LB definition brings functional limitation. By living by, to borrow a phrase from Edwards, what we think we know, we completely miss what really is.
Spirit, however, is ephemeral—there are no hard edges. It is based in Truth—again what really is. It removes what we think we know, the illusions we buy into, and allows reality to be expressed and appreciated.
Here is the takeaway point: Spirituality is a very RB and subconscious-related function. By sidelining the LB and encouraging the RB to gain control, we can access the subconscious the same way we do creativity. The way we do that is through presence.
With presence, we remove our focus from form and observe reality—what is really happening at the moment. As I write this, for instance, there is a bird outside chirping rather enthusiastically. I cannot see the bird from my vantage point. By way of the dominance of my LB in everyday activity, my mind tries to imagine what this bird must look like. What is is it doing? Why is it so vocal? I almost unconsciously try to define it. I am in full-on LB mode; not very conducive to a spiritual state.
But if I quiet myself, silence the inner dialog, and find presence an interesting thing happens—I let go of my striving to make sense of it all. I go from wondering what this bird looks like and why it’s making all of this racket to simply accepting it. In presence, I find—and accept—the way things really are as opposed to what I imagine or hope they are, just as Edwards has advised thousands of drawing students.
The activity of finding presence is similar to one of Edward’s techniques of focusing on the field and not the form. Most beginning drawing students, in their unconscious LB dominated minds only see, and therefore only create, the form. For instance, a student drawing a vase would logically see the vase and so draw it. This seems proper except for one problem—the LB seeks to draw what it thinks the vase should look like, not how it really is. It’s almost an unconscious egotism. It butts in and tries to tell us how this thing is really going to be.
But creative—and spiritually adept—people focus not on the form but the field. In reality, it’s a process that straddles back and forth but only after a certain mastery. Rather than focus on only the vase, more advanced students will draw the space around the vase. In so doing they break away from the attempts of the rigid, form-bound LB to define the end result and enter the spatial (and spiritual) realm of the RB.
To the person practicing presence, it’s no different. Rather than focusing on the form and structure, logic and definition, of the activity happening around them, they focus instead on the spaces between and around. In other words, they perceive the silence and the stillness at least as much as the sound and the movement. As they do they enter a state of blissful acceptance. This state is one that cannot be accessed through our LB mode.
Creativity and spirituality are absolutely linked in my understanding. Both find their source in the subconscious and both are accessed through the RB. The implications are significant, as well—we can enter a more spirit-conscious state very deliberately. We are no longer at the mercy of our circumstances and unconscious reaction.
Closing Thoughts and Questions
Feel free to journal your thoughts or leave a comment or comments below to generate further discussion:
- To illustrate the point I’m making better, try an exercise that Betty Edwards suggests: try drawing a subject (yes, it’s okay even if you believe you have no drawing skills). Perhaps this might be a piece of fruit or the vase I mentioned earlier. Draw it in entirety and note your results. Now, turn the subject upside down and draw it again. Trace the outer line of the object where form and field merge. Likely you will note that your results will be remarkably better. This is because your LB was no longer able to identify what it was drawing and give you a performance of what it thinks it should look like. This should give you a sense of focusing on field during presence and the shift it can produce in your results in achieving a spirit-based state.
- Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain can be purchased here.
Aaron Force is a blogger from Seattle, Washington. He writes to educate others about the nature of an expanded consciousness to evolve humanity. Aaron unexpectedly experienced his own profound awakening and ego transcendence in 2015 and soon understood that the qualities of his own experience (a greater expansion and evolution in his life) could be applied to mankind collectively.