When I was a young child, I was wildly creative. I was also sensitive, smart, and a people-pleaser, which led me in the direction of academic achievement. Striving for straight As in school became a way of seeking approval.
Over the course of my school career, my creativity became secondary, and even atrophied. It’s hard to think for yourself when you’re trying to get all the “right” answers.
In college, I discovered spirituality, and an Earth-based path that appealed to me. Not having been raised in a religion, I had never seen the value of one. But in discovering magick, the world seemed to open up again. I dove into my studies – entirely for my own benefit, this time – with enthusiasm.
This new path led directly back to my creativity. I’d felt blocked in my writing, but I started contributing to a local Pagan newsletter, and sharing my spiritual experiences. I continued writing for them for more than a decade. I also started blogging. This eventually brought me to the publication of my first book, a collection of those essays, in my early 40s. After that, the floodgates opened up. My powers of the imagination were back, in full force.
I had discovered that creativity and spirituality are deeply entwined.
As I sat down to write this post, the image of a doorway came to me. But I couldn’t figure out whether creativity was a portal to greater spiritual connection, or if spirituality was a doorway to one’s creativity.
For me, both are true.
We are innately creative beings, like the Universe from which we emerge. Spirituality, or the acknowledgment of a power beyond your ken, and creativity, the ability to weave elements of your experience into something new, are both essential parts of being whole.
As human beings, we are drawn to this place of wholeness.
“Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.” – Rumi
Your spirituality might manifest as a reverence for the cosmos and the discoveries of science, or maybe you walk a more traditional religious path. Perhaps, like me, it’s something in between, unique to you.
Your creativity may come in the form of practices that are considered artistic, or your life itself could be your art. Maybe you’re still figuring it out.
No matter your personal flavors of choice, think about how these two aspects of your life are woven together. What creations are you bringing to life? How do you honor the amazing blessings of this mysterious world you inhabit?
Trying to live without either creativity or spirituality squeezes life into a box, and all looks flat and grey. There’s no use pretending that life has no mysteries. There’s no joy there.
Wouldn’t you rather be free to walk the spacious halls of your own inner house of wholeness?
Pick a door, and enter your sanctuary, with reverence and the awe of a child.
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