What does it mean to be creative?

How can one understand the creative process?
What does creative source mean?
Why is it important to integrate creativity in everyday life?
How can Creative Interaction be a tool for communication and relationship building within teams?

Over the past 15 years I have been studying the creative process intently, researching the social role that I believe Art should have in our society today. In working with people/ groups /teams from many different walks of life - Individuals searching to understand life and themselves more adequately; teams wanting to work more effectively together, enhancing their skills, discovering their passions; teachers integrating creativity into their curriculums; youth seeking to find their voice in society; children trying to take back the freedom of creative play - I witnessed how empowering it is to engage in a creative process. Through that it is possible to discover that we ARE all creative and that life offers more then we thought possible.

Life is a constant process of creation. The universe pulses with the energy of forming and creating anew all the time. Life offers us many opportunities to explore and discover something unique. We just have to observe nature around us.The human race creates all the time. The importance here is how we do it and what effect it has on our immediate surroundings. Are we creating in order to achieve a certain goal in mind already i.e. considering the end result? Or can we allow ourselves to move with the process, being there every step as it unfolds and emerges, being conscious, and being aware?

Let us explore the innate nature of the creative process:

We start with an impulse, we are inspired, and we have an idea. This is the realm of imagination; here we are already creating imagery or visions of our ideas.

The next step is to set an intention, to manifest the impulse/idea. In order to free ourselves from the end-result and stay with the process itself, we need to start unbiased, with an open mind.

As we enter the process of creating, we evolve through different stages of change. Each step in the process ultimately moves us to transformation. While creating, there are moments of evaluation that happen naturally - these are crucial to the process - where an integration of the creative and rational side of the brain takes place.

The moments of evaluation are also times when we use our intuition to perceive the bigger picture as a whole, as well as the parts and their relationship to each other.The more we train that intuitive way of 'seeing' the more we 'know ' what the next step of action is. That means that our action and /or intervention come from an inner understanding of the direction towards which the creative process is moving.

The creative process is a process of synthesizing the striving is towards integration.

Through the different stages of development within the process we try to practise perception without judgement. Those are moments of being able to see things anew and to gain a new, different perspective.

The transformative nature of the creative process has various outcomes:

• We gain trust within ourselves and are therefore more confident in the way we interact with our immediate environment and people with whom we engage with.
• We open ourselves to the possibility of doing things differently, which leads to innovation.
• We become more creative in our actions.

How can we access that creativity, our own creative source?

To begin with, it is the inner state of being that will make it possible for you to access your creative source. When you are unsure, hesitant, doubtful or critical, it will tint the 'glasses' through which you look. Imagine yourself free of those things for a moment , imagine painting without hesitation, free of the demands to reach a specific outcome , letting your inner inspiration guide you as you take one step at a time looking with new eyes, discovering things , allowing images /form to emerge, unfold and change.

A willingness to discover and explore are good starting points for entering a creative process.

Once you are in the process look for the moments of flow and allow yourself to go with that. Think of a river that flows because that's what it does - it doesn't think about it, that is what it does. Experience the moments of joy when you stand back and realize that something profound has happened when you look at your creation and you can say yes to it. Those are all moments of having entered your creative source and that is no different from your very own life energy. It is when we become one with all that is, that we feel whole and less separate from the world around us. These are the glimpses of how life happens. This is the moment when we can breathe out and release the tensions of every day life………

Why is it important to integrate creativity into daily life?

Bringing creativity into our daily lives is a holistic approach to life, it is recognizing that we want to live a life that has meaning and is integrated. It is about creating a space for new things to happen, for surprises to come about, things that usually do not have anything to do with goal setting or performance- orientated action. We have to learn to do simple things that bring us joy… like picking up found objects on a beach walk, cooking, watching the waves break, looking at a squirrel eating nuts, playing with a child, looking at the stars and giving them names, running down sand dunes, planting flowers, taking a different road home then usual etc…

Being creative in our lives helps us to be present in the moment and realise what we do have rather than what we are lacking. We see this in the methodology of 'Appreciative Enquiry' which focuses on 'what is', or 'what works' ; in that way we pay attention to positive aspects and build on that rather then focusing on what's not good and trying to fix that.

How can creative interaction improve communication and relationship building?

When we turn to one another using the creative process, we open ourselves to listening to one another's stories. Or, simply put, we begin to listen. We each have a chance to speak and feel heard.

In creative interaction a group/team engages in painting, drawing, or working together with clay. Through that they share what they see and feel, their experience of the world. This brings people together; when we reach that feeling of togetherness we reach moments of hope, feeling less isolated and separated from each other. It gives us strength to be able to express ourselves and see ourselves reflected in the working/living/social community around us.

Through creative interaction we can learn to recognize and respect each other's skills and resources in an appreciative manner. This creates a compassionate working environment where in turn each individual feels recognized and supported and can therefore be far more powerful in contributing to an organization.

Comments from participants:

'It was great to feel myself immersed in the creative process.'
'It touched something deep inside me'
'I realized that it is possible to change as the process emerges and that you don't need to end up with the picture you had in your mind as you started off.'
'I was able to relax'
'Just being me in the moment was valuable'
'I was able to give expression to what my needs are'