May the Creative Force be with you
On creativity as a life-affirming practice of peace
“The opposite of war isn’t peace -
It’s creation.”
-La Vie Bohème in the musical Rent
Dear beloved readers,
The world needs your creativity.
Yes, yours.
We need your creativity for our collective flourishing, for creating more life-affirming, peaceful worlds.
Last week was Enchantable’s birthday, and the year of writing Enchantable has been one of the most creative years of my life. In reflecting on this year, I have been thinking a lot about the creative process. The weekly public writing has been like a fountain that fills itself, that regenerates, and the more I put out, the more I feel like I receive back in terms of inspiration and ideas. Today I wanted to share a little bit about what I have noticed in creative practice in the hopes that if you are seeking to tap into your creativity more, this post might support you. This is hard to put into words, and these ideas don’t feel fully formed, yet I want to try. Consider it a work-in-progress (perhaps that is true, always).
I am thinking about creativity as a process, a practice, a force, and a power. Elizabeth Gilbert calls it Big Magic, and here, I am calling it the Creative Force1. In the field of peace studies, we talk about different kinds of power, different kinds of force. There is the force of the weapon, the gun, a power over kind of force. There is the force of nonviolence, what Gandhi called soul force or satyagraha, a power with. Creativity feels like its own kind of power, its own kind of force - which mind you, can be used to violent or nonviolent means. A lot of creativity went into making the atomic bomb. A lot of human ingenuity is wasted on war systems, which could otherwise be directed and channeled towards peace. And that is what I am proposing here: that we see our creative practice as a practice for peace, as a practice of contributing and generating and offering our creativity to a more life-affirming and peaceful world, to counter the forces of destruction that are so visibly present in this moment.
There have been other creative periods in my life, and the other one that stands out to me the most is when I was in my mid-twenties, when I was living in Niger as a Peace Corps Volunteer and then in the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho working at a guest ranch. This was in the early to mid-2000s, before smartphones, and in both places I lived without easy access to technology and the internet. I wrote prolifically and was particularly dedicated to songwriting in particular during this time.
I am now in a different place (Costa Rica) in a very different phase of life, as a professor and mother in my mid-40s. The conditions in my life are very different than my mid-twenties. Thinking about these periods, I have been trying to sense what about them felt so creative, and what conditions have allowed for creativity to flow. In these two very distinct chapters of life and different circumstances, what have been the threads running through them with respect to creative flow? What can I learn about the Creative Force in thinking about these two distinctly creative periods of my life?
What follows are some observations about the Creative Force, which I offer less as dictums or hard, absolute truths, and more as observations and experiences. I preface them all with mystery: there is so much about the creative process that feels magical, mysterious, and unnameable. But here are my best efforts to articulate what I can, what I have observed and experienced over these two vastly distinct creative periods of my life.
Creating creates more creativity. Creativity is a regenerative force. The more you do it, the more it gives back to you. Which is to say, in the case of writing, the main thing you need to do is write. This is probably a deeply dissatisfying answer. But ultimately, you just have to do it, and do it over and over and over again, and keep doing it, even when you don’t feel like you have anything left to say. The Creative Force wants to be in reciprocal relationship with you, and you need to show up and do it to uphold your end of things.
Creativity loves discipline, diligence, and dedication. This is related to the above - if you want to write more, you need to write more (and not just talk about wanting to write more, or buying more notebooks and pens or technology with which you are going to write more, etc. But don’t get me wrong - I love a good notebook, and having the tools you need is important too). The Creative Force loves commitment and dedication. With Enchantable I set the commitment to post weekly, and I have kept that commitment, and I feel like the Creative Force rewards this commitment with more to write about every week. This is also my Virgo Rising talking, who loves discipline and structure :)
The Creative Force loves space. And by this, I mean both dedicated space for the craft, as well as dedicated space that is just space, along the lines of the space of time you used to stare at the wall or out the window, spaciousness in your mind and heart and attention - the space that social media and the internet and email now occupy for many of us. I am not saying this as a judgment. I am guilty of filling that space, too. But I just know that one of the key factors in that mid-2000s period in my life was the lack of connectivity to technology, which meant the presence of connectivity to everything around me. I was observing life around me, as well as my own inner world, and I was very committed to writing during this period. There were pauses, in which now there is often checking of messages and notifications. The Creative Force needs space to flow into, and if that space is occupied by other people’s thoughts and ideas, it cannot.
The more you make space for the Creative Force, the more it will show up unexpectedly, and you have to be ready for it. Over time you will notice patterns of things you do that allow creativity to strike. Maybe it’s an idea you get in the shower. For me, biking is a huge part of my creative process, and some of my best ideas happen en route to and from campus, while my wheels are spinning. Sometimes I safely pull over to make a quick voice memo during my ride, knowing that by the time I get to campus, the idea might have disappeared.
There is something in this process about sharing it and having a container for it. During the period of writing my dissertation, in which I was writing a lot, it felt very different from the weekly writing I am doing now, when I know I have an audience and I am writing about whatever I feel inspired to write about. I think it has to do with the exchange of ideas, the feedback I get from my readers on a regular basis, whether it is a like or an email back or a little text or note.
Life loves feedback loops. The Creative Force also loves feedback loops. I think the creative process thrives by receiving feedback, which is different from external validation, yet very close to it. Maybe the slight difference is creating for your audience because you care about them, versus creating for an audience to profit from them. I just know it feels different to write and share it, than to write and let it sit on my computer or in my head. And while I love writing for an audience, I also know the main reason I write is because I have to write. I have always had to write. That is the main driving force.
The Creative Force, like all natural cycles, has periods of fallow and dormancy, periods of bursting forth and more hidden, underground work- and rest. I can see I am in a period of flower blooming right now, but no flower blooms all the time, and the cycles of dormancy or invisible work are just as necessary for the creative process. Just because we aren’t producing outwardly doesn’t mean that the Creative Force isn’t working through us.
Anything can be an expression of creativity. Yes, writing Enchantable is a creative process and one that I enjoy immensely. But the most mundane tasks in our lives can be creative acts. Cooking dinner is certainly a creative act (or can be - I can’t say this is where I am finding peak creative expression right now). Choosing our outfit for the day can be a creative practice. The way we decorate our desk or office space can be a creative practice. And perhaps the more creatively we can do these small things, the more we invite the Creative Force into our lives.
Based on these observations and experiences, I offer some tips for cultivating a relationship with Creative Force:
Show up for your creativity daily. Whatever way you want to practice it, practice it daily. You have to keep doing it over and over. The Creative Force or The Muse or Big Magic or whatever you want to call it wants us to show up. And the more often we show up, the more likely we are to receive. When we open up the channels more, they become more open.
And if you don’t show up, offer yourself grace and begin again.Make space for your creativity, which also means doing nothing. There is a balance between doing-ness and being-ness, and our being feeds the doing. I know that the things I am doing in my life outside of my creative practice influence it as much if not more than the practice itself. It is worth mentioning that meditation is a key element of my creative process (and life). Turn off the phone sometimes. Take a social media break every now and again, even if it is just for an evening or a day. Notice what you notice. And write it down. This also means resting as often as you can, knowing for many of us in late-stage capitalism, this is not a lot.
Feed your creativity with what inspires you. This can be in small ways, and look like a lot of different things, but notice what inspires you to create. For example, travel and being in new places definitely inspires my creative life, and of course during the peak of the pandemic this wasn’t possible. But I would travel in small ways, like walking on a different block home on my usual route from the store, and it is amazing how delightful this can be. Do more of what inspires you, even in small ways. If you can’t get on a plane or to a museum, travel down a different street or go visit a public mural. In Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way, she talks about taking yourself out for artist dates, which is a great practice.
I also mean inspire in the broadest sense, not exclusively a positive sense. Enchantment and disturbance go hand-in-hand.Be ready for creativity whenever it strikes. Figure out ways you can honor these strikes when they happen, whether in the reminders app on your phone or carrying a notebook. Not every idea grows legs, but some do. Creativity wants you to see. Let the Creative Force know that you’ll be ready whenever it strikes.
Create the containers that your creativity needs. This will look different for you than it does for me. But think about the form and structure you need for your creative life - what do you need to hold it? Create the container you need for it. If you’re not sure what it needs, experiment. A doctoral dissertation is a very specific kind of container with a particular shape. Enchantable is a container that has been very nourishing for my writing life. So you can think about and experiment with the shapes and containers that might work for your creative process. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa.
Share your creativity in a way that works for you. This does not mean you need to start your own Substack (though I highly encourage you to if you’ve been thinking about it!) or posting on TikTok if that’s not your thing (if it is, by all means, go for it). Maybe it means joining a writing group at a local library. Maybe it means finding an accountability buddy or two with whom you share some writing or your process. Maybe it means sending the essay that has been in your drafts folder to a few trusted friends, or out to a journal.
Practice creativity in forms outside of your norm, in daily mundane life tasks. Lately, what has been bringing me joy is in this realm is dressing astrologically, planning my outfit choices according to the planetary rulers of the days of the week. You don’t have to do this with everything - just pick one or two ways you want to extend your creative practice. See what happens. Which leads me to…
Experiment. All of this is a process and a practice. See what works for you, notice what life conditions seem to enhance your creativity and what seems to dull it. I know that exhaustion and too much social media dampen my creative spirit. Rest and space completely enliven it. See if you can tune into what conditions foster your creativity and what seem to dull it, and try to foster conditions in your life that allow for greater creativity.
Perhaps most importantly, remember that you aren’t creating alone. You are not creating in a vacuum. You are collaborating with the Creative Force, with your body and breath and the land around you, with the many beings you are thinking-with. I think our egos can get in our way when we think we are doing it alone. Yes, you have to show up. You have to be diligent. But you’re not doing it alone. We never are.
Dear reader, what has been your experience with the Creative Force?
What observations and experiences have you had?
What tips would you offer or add to this list?
I am teaching a doctoral seminar for UPEACE Ph.D. students in a few weeks on creative writing, and I would love to hear how all of this lands for you as I continue to play with these ideas.
May the Creative Force be with you.
May you be open to it, align with it, and be ready for it to arrive in mysterious ways.
May you remember that you are not creating alone, and that you are always creating-with.
May we each channel this Force towards creating more just, peaceful, liveable, flourishing worlds in which we can all thrive.
And happy full moon!
With love and care,
Stephanie
People and resources who inspire my creativity:
Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way and particularly the practice of morning pages - I haven’t been in a daily morning pages practice since I became a mom (I prioritize meditation, and if there is time, I write), but I do it as often as I can, and I definitely find that there is a relationship between doing this practice and my creative flow. The periods of greatest creative flow, for me, have aligned with times when I am doing morning pages.
Yumi Sakugawa - all of her work, especially her books and Instagram and webinars such as Discipline as Pleasure
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Sarah Faith Gottesteiner of the Moon Studio - again, all of her work, and particularly the Clear Channels workshop and other courses
And here is the song from Rent from which the opening quote came:
Yes, a play on Star Wars :)