When Creative Process Becomes Habit Magic Happens

Many of us think of creativity as that inspired moment when the idea is born…or the shift in understanding that opens a whole new paradigm of thought.  We tend to describe the creative process as a process that bursts into intriguing possibilities, over and over again.  Many of us who value creativity reach continually for that excited buzz that comes with the feeling of touching an expanded viewpoint.

For me, the inspired concepts and exciting new configurations do happen…but they are part of the creative process – not the entirety of it.  In truth, if the new idea was the only goal of the creative process, nothing would be brought to fruition.  This is where our creative habits come into play.  The behaviors we take on as a result of following through on inspired ideas become the invocations, if you will, that define the characters we play in the movie called “Life” (see: Stars In Our Own Movie.)

For example, several years ago, I was in a horse-riding accident that resulted in the fracture of  two vertebrae.  Beyond the physical discomfort, it was also an uncertain time as I came to terms with how my life would change.  I pondered what activity I could pursue that engaged my mind, heart, and Soul (like horses did) while at the same time allowing me a stillness of posture that supported the healing and health of my spine.  There were no immediate answers forthcoming – only the uncertainties of a shifting world.  But, as is often the case, the creative process occurs in the serendipity of events that force us to reconfigure in the midst of change.  So, when I happened upon a cross-stitching kit, I felt that excited buzz of possibility and bought it.

Then, when I opened the kit, I was immediately intimidated by my lack of experience.  A vast expanse of fabric, a wide array of colored embroidery thread, and a chart of tiny black and white symbols that would “somehow” magically turn into the cover picture when matched to the right color thread.  I almost put everything back into the container to never look at again.  Such is what happens sometimes when the inspired idea first engages what the habit requires to bring the idea to fruition.  Truly, it was pure dogged determination that got me to plough through that first reaction and start on the creative adventure of learning (see:The Infallible Teacher.)

That first project taught me two things:  I could do anything I set my mind to do, and I experienced great joy in weaving colors into fabric in a way that created art.  With each project I stepped further into a creative process of exploration and experimentation until I was designing my own patterns to create pieces that reflected my Soul’s voice and spiritual evolution.  I became a weaver of my inner world, bringing it into outward manifest form.  As surely as I learned to turn thread and fabric into art, I transformed myself in the creative process by making the practice a habit.  And, now, I am The Weaver in the movie of my life, invoking worlds through the weft and weave of my daily habitual activity.

I evolved and became more by reaching through the obstacle of fear and opening to allow the substance of The Weaver into me.  This is a type of magic – the magic of a habit created by inspiration.

When we determine to make a habit from the creative process of inspirational insight such is what happens.  Whether our inspiration finds us planting seeds in a garden and nurturing them through the evolution of their lives…whether our inspiration guides us to journal or write blogs or inspired messages on Facebook… whether our inspiration guides us to find time in nature… whether our inspiration guides us to try new recipes in the kitchen or new recipes in how we engage the people in our lives… the key is follow-through.  Turn that excited buzz of possibility into a regular practice.  Let that practice become the teacher that shows you the next step, and follow it into becoming All You Are…

Your starring role in the movie called “Your Life.”

I love you.  Thank you.

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