We are all artists in some rare and wonderful way. We all, from time to time, tap into a part of ourselves that sings, dances, designs, draws and lives in creative expression.
As we spread our wings creatively to release our inner artist from the confines of a hostile, oppressive, and controlling world, we seem to flow in sync, in harmony, with life itself, with the spirit that is life, resonating with something greater than us, a being, a presence, an alive intelligence.
Flowing with that creative life force, that muse, might be likened to riding a feather on a softly gentle summer breeze. It is fragile, yet powerful. It is delicate, yet strong. It is like a whisper in a large crowded room which stills the crowd. It is precious and yet, tragically, could be easily destroyed. But, with an understanding of the rare beauty of a creative person, we can become aware of the destruction criticism and judgment inflict on our creativity.
That awareness is important because it allows us to remain free of judgment's destruction, and continue to create, rising higher into greater expressions of creativity, bridging worlds, and ultimately surging in union with the creative forces of life itself.
The fear those abuses create in us attempts to diminish our inner creative potential. Constant criticism disempowers the creation by casting a shadow over our self-confidence, muzzling our creativity. It blocks and stifles the imagination where creativity plays and thrives. Any form of judgment is destructive, violent and oppressive to the gentle unfolding of a creative response which is our natural way of living in love. So, where there is judgment there is no love. Period. Judgment is a violence against the soul - of both, really.
As we look at systemic poverty, oppression, exploitation all in an effort to remediate a broken world, we have to look at our "justice" system, which is a projection of what is happening in our homes, schools and local communities. When we seek freedom (which is also a healing) for the imprisoned - in a myriad of different levels of imprisonment - either actual incarceration or the stifling and limiting of creativity itself - we are calling for a spiritual awakening, and a creativity revolution.
The world needs us to rise up the spiritual ladder, from the lower levels of emotional, psychological, spiritual powerlessness up into the higher levels of courage, intelligence, love and the outpouring of divine compassion on ourselves and each other, all in a spirit of mutual respect and unconditional love. And, we do that through our creative expression which needs to be set free from judgment and criticism.
Obviously, unconditional love does not co-exist with judgment and prejudice, which are the barbarous activities of the unenlightened which would lead us back into a dark age, back into the cave. Today, as we reach for the light within us, we ascend into our higher natures and simultaneously drawing the entire human race and all the life on the planet into that peaceable kingdom within and among us described in Isaiah 11.
It begins with a decision, a choice, an act of the will to live with more integrity, more love, more honest self reflection and mindfulness, to listen more deeply and more carefully for the heart and intention in each other. It asks us to step into forgiveness, rather than judgment, to allow us to remain free of the spiritually reductionist effects any judgment would have on us. This is a high spirituality, above morality, as it demands we literally rise above that which would judge us as we would judge the other. It is another arena entirely.Once you've breathed that peace, that sweetness, that blissful spiritual abundance, you cannot go back down to the dark madness of judgment.
There are many forms of judgment - and many forms of freedom and creative expression. Awareness brings a consciousness and freedom to create with more power, effectiveness and vision.
So what happens energetically - to yourself, another and the world - when you judge, gossip or criticize someone? It is a spiritual violence against them, it is an attempt to subdue and kill them.
When someone is repeatedly criticized, judged and punished by a cruel parent, spouse or boss, if they're unaware of what's happening, their inner energy plummets below their creativity level. In that moment, they are split apart, cut off from their source.
And - since creativity can only occur at a certain spiritual vibration that means there is a certain consciousness stratum at which creativity occurs.
Frequent criticism lowers a person's self-esteem, constricting their spirit, limiting their confidence in their own imaginative process, dropping them below their creativity strata. The unfortunate result, despite how hard they may try to please their highly critical boss, parent, teacher, spouse, or even child, is their goal seems to always exceed their reach because the abuse has reduced them, trapping them at a lowered vibration, a lower inner level of light.
The good news is that the reverse is true. The more you praise and encourage your child, student, worker or spouse, the higher they rise, expanding their soulfulness, confidence and self-esteem, and consequently the more likely they are to reach that higher creativity strata. Also, the more confident and more motivated, the more inner power they have to fuel and empower their vision, resourcefulness, intelligence which lead to more positive, life-giving and life-affirming creative outcomes. I think this could be imagined as an ever expanding Infinitum of levels of an ascending creativity strata.
This means, in short, there aren't many poets, artists, or musicians languishing in despair for long. If they ever did touch down in the darkest of all inner places, the agony of being separated from their inner creative muse, would be so debilitating, they would naturally seek a solution, which ultimately would lead them onto the paths to enlightenment and into the higher levels of light, wisdom, love and ultimately creativity.
There, in the radiance of consciousness, of awareness, flow rivers of creativity. It is the love, ecstasy and bliss the mournful poet had sought all along. That's if he perseveres. The path is hard, but a most worthy one.
I truly believe this is what Jesus meant when he said, "Seek and ye shall find." He wasn't talking about a material finding or even job finding, but about enlightenment. He is the way, as he shows us the way to love which is the way to creativity. This is the only truth because love is the way to creative and physical life, and what could be more true than life itself. It all sounds almost circular, and it is, spiraling, ascending deeper and higher, both simultaneously. As the Milky Way spins from its inception, reaching outwardly, so, it seems, does the spiritual life and on-going creation fueled by love.
If we seek it, despite the hardness and darkness of all the challenges we face, it will be found. And, it is that light, that enlightenment that flickers and glows in the creativity resulting from our increased consciousness.
An important tip on the way is to open your awareness to any criticism in your life. Recognize the arrows of degradation in the criticism, judgment, deceptive betrayal, dark controlling, debilitating treatment by others. When you see it, you've stopped its stealth power to degrade you.
Also, when Jesus warns us against judging others, it is for this reason. Any form of judgment is a detour away from the light. It is the fastest way into the dark, empty, lifeless void. And, if we cast judgment on another, it reveals we are also judging ourselves, limiting our own light, binding our own souls out of the higher realms where creativity lives.
It seems that some of the world's greatest artists, poets, writers, and musicians have walked the tortured path of non-conformity until they found another way. That is the way to peace where criticism and judgment are rejected. Once the artist is conscious of the effect any negativity has on his art, he will be alert to it, steer clear of it and rejoice in his empowerment and expand into greater clarity and creativity.
What's interesting here, is the scriptures are not exclusively about making us more moral or socially responsible, as we once thought. They are not about living within a strict legal system. They are about helping us grow up spiritually, rise and ascend to higher levels to become co-creators. They serve as a guide for us to evolve our creative powers by maintaining and increasing our creative integrity, in an effort to reach the higher and finer levels of enlightenment.
If this path is evident on our lower human everyday levels, it tells us something more profound about our Divine Parent, our creator, who would create and exist in absolute total non-judgment, and in realms of unconditional love.
It certainly seems divinity lives and thrives on love in order to create. And, the more love, the greater the creation. All of creation points to a most awesome Divine creator and lover, beyond anything we know. His/Her footprints are in our own self-discovery of his/her creative power buried mysteriously within our own.
Post script:
I wonder if - in the future - our inner energy levels might be measurable thus allowing us to determine our level of creative energy? So, say our creative temperature begins at 72 and abuse lowers our inner temperature below that, then we are going to be less creative and productive.
This might mean that in our efforts to assist people in raising their creative temperature we would employ more "love." What if a brilliant medical breakthrough occurs at 100, then if we're lingering at 89, we're not going to realize that breakthrough.
I think enlightenment might be very high on a creativity level as well, as might be a mystical breakthrough. Unconditional love might also even be measurable some day. I assume it would be high on the creativity strata. And, an encounter with the Divine Creator would be highest on the empowerment creative strata.
It would seem that empowerment (and the increase in creativity in general) would require a strong conscious and intentional detachment from all the negativity that surrounds us like a toxic spiritual fog.
Since it is unlikely the world is going to become less critical or judgmental, the path to creativity would be in detaching mindfully from all of the negativity around us. We might sculpt a beautiful life for ourselves first in our minds, and then detach from the dream killers out there.
* Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent Van Gogh, September 1888.
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