The creative process becomes distorted in myriad ways. The initial damage occurs as children since human beings begin life with a zest and enthusiasm for creative exploration that is delightful to observe.
However, after absorbing the flaws in the creative process from their parents, the school system, and other people in their lives, by adulthood an appalling percentage of the population does not think they are creative at all.
How does this happen? How do these vibrant, playfully creative little beings become so stunted by adulthood?
Creativity inherently is self-sustaining. The creative energy nurtures itself and grows quite naturally. Unfortunately this is where the first distortions enter. The self-sustaining aspects of creativity are stripped away from the child.
Surrounded by adults who have no idea how to create in a self-sustaining way, the child’s burgeoning energies become a substitute source of sustenance for those adults.
We all see parents who live through their children and their children’s activities such as sports. The child is molded to produce what the parent needs. This, to put it bluntly, is energy vampirism.
As the child loses the self-sustaining aspects of his or her inherent creativity, the child too begins to seek substitutes. Approval of others for creative efforts is often the first place the child looks.
This flawed approach leaves the child woefully vulnerable to criticism, even if the criticism is ignorant and without value. The crippled creative drive tries to flow through approved channels, becoming more and more stunted as it does so.
Sometimes there is no recognition at all of the unique gifts the child brings to the world and the child learns to place no value on those beautiful aspects of his or her being. These children usually become the adults with the least awareness of their own natural gifts.
The end result is a great distortion of identity. Instead of seeing that shining core of creativity as their true essence, the child learns to identify primarily with external forms.
I myself recall identifying myself only as a jeweler and at one time could not imagine myself being anything else. These days I know myself as that core creative essence and see jewelry, paintings, and who knows what else simply as possible forms of expression of my creative essence.
Lacking this perception results in a painful loss of freedom in the creative process. One sad outcome is, for example, artists who cannot bear to sell their best work.
Artists certainly do not have to sell their creations, but should feel free to do so if they want. Cringing at the very idea reveals a monstrous prison around their unique gifts.
Because of the assaults on their creative process the work has been created with such difficulty it seems a rare event never to be duplicated. Without the perception of an endless self-sustaining stream of creative energy, the finished work itself seems to be the only thing of value.
Stripped of the self-sustaining energies of creation, the wounded artist clings to the artwork itself as a substitute. Combined with a desperate need for recognition and approval by others, this artist often cannot even show the work for fear of the devastating rejections that may come.
The buoyant freedom to create exuberantly has been corralled into a painfully limited form and is in danger of coming to a complete halt. After all, the many violations of creative integrity do not necessarily stop with adulthood.
The second chakra is considered to be the seat of sexual/creative energy, and for good reason. Sexuality is a particular physical expression of the creative energy of life itself so the sexual and creative energies are indeed intertwined in our beings.
From outright physical rape to more subtle violations of their beings, many possible pitfalls lie in wait for the struggling creative adult. It is no wonder so many give up on the process, settling for as steady a paycheck as they can manage.
Alcohol, drugs, shopping, overeating, television, video games, and other distractions serve to dull the pain. People can almost forget the loss of that deep wellspring of joyous creativity as they immerse themselves in their chosen distractions.
However, despite all the distortions and hazards of a physical human life, the core essence, that creative shining core of each human being, is never destroyed. The expression of that essence may be stymied and distorted, but the essence itself remains intact.
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