We are often asked, "What is intentional creativity?"
The simple answer is, any creativity that begins with a purpose! Time out of mind, people have combined setting an intention with creative process. Knitting a sweater for someone? We think of how we want them to be cozy and warm! Cooking a meal? We intend that those eating our food will be nourished.
Flowers in paint water
Our friend and fellow Intentional Creativity® teacher, the Bejeweled Baroness Elizabeth Gibbons writes, "By creating with intention, we create a cosmic portal, a quantum field where we can explore our potential and possibilities. We shine the divine light of our higher self into the darkness of our shadow self. We are able to heal and integrate all aspects of our psyche and to access a miracle field, the space between the thoughts where our divine spark lives." When asked if they are creative, 95% of young children say 'YES!' ... by middle school, that's dropped to about half, and by late teens, only about 5% see themselves as creative! What changes?
Often, that thought begins with a thoughtless comment, criticism, or a comparison with someone more 'talented.' Unfortunately, that comment is often made by an "expert," a teacher or a "more talented" friend. In reality, Creativity is the birthright of all humans!
With Intentional Creativity, the process is more valued than the 'product,' though chances are you - yes YOU - can create something that brings you and those around you pleasure and joy, and looks good to boot! And like any other 'muscle,' the more we create, the more skillful we become.
Intentional Creativity *Metacognative exercise:
1) Take a few deep breaths, and ask yourself a question, perhaps 'What am I passionate about?' - 'What upsets me?' - What brings me joy?' Take a marker or pen, use a piece of paper, a simple composition book, or fancier art journal; place the tip of your marker on the paper and doode for a minute or so, just letting the line flow. (You can use your non-dominant hand if you wish.)
Doodle, non-dominant hand
2) Then begin writing, inviting insights from your quick doodle. Write what comes to mind. Did new awareness arise? Write for about minute or two.
3) Now, move to another page, choose a pleasing color, and sketch a symbol and wrote some of the words around it. Draw a line (a kind of ripple around your symbol and words) more words, and another ripple.
Symbol and word ripples
In this case, the layers were
- What becomes possible when I bring more scared space into my life?
- What form does it take?
- What needs to be released/added in my physical space?
Musea Atelier - step 4 sketch
4) Do a simple sketch, bringing form to your insight - here, we sketched our muse holding the visionary screen depicting our sacred space (my Atelier studio)
We can jot down a couple of action steps that will help us bring our vision into reality, and choose one or two we can do in a day or two. I often put these on little cards in my
Vision Planning pockets.
Visual Planning Board
*Metacognative drawings can be done for most inquiries, this way of "thinking about thinking" brings our thoughts conscious, so we can acknowledge, fine tune, and release ones which no longer fit! We often use Metacognative drawing in our Red Thread circles and IC classes are a way to quickly shift state and tap our intuition.
In our
Red Thread Creatives group, we explore bringing intention and awareness to different creative practices in our circles and classes.
How do you bring intention to your creative process?
