This is one of my all time favorite talks on the nature of creativity and creative genius by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the phenomenally successful book, Eat, Pray, Love. The TED talk was filmed over three years ago now but her message is timeless, a return to the mysterious origins of creative insight. I love […]
One Artist Brings Healing Power of Creativity to “Broken Places”
Lily Yeh is an artist who brings the healing power of creativity to places torn by drugs, violence, even genocide. Forced to flee China with her family when she was a child, Yeh has advocated the healing power of creativity throughout the world, including Syria and Rwanda. I love this story both for the diversity […]
Creativity and The Three Stages of Conscious Design Build, Part III: Consciousness
Welcome back! Hopefully you didn’t get too depressed thinking about all the ways your self-conscious behavior jeopardizes your ability to bring your true creative gifts into the world. Again, don’t linger on it. We all do it to some degree. Let’s get to the good stuff, something we all can aspire towards while we love […]
You want creativity in your life? You can’t selectively numb emotion
It is my belief that true creativity, creativity that enlivens, inspires, and enriches the lives of everyone around them, most especially the person(s) willing to undertake the creative offering, is based on living from a place of authenticity. In this vein, I love this talk by Dr. Brené Brown as it gets to the core […]
Creativity and Awareness: A Nondual Perspective on the Nature of Creativity
Author, poet, and potter, Colin Drake muses on the nature of creativity as it relates to awareness. Like the simple act of walking across a room, creativity bubbles up from stillness, moves in relation to stillness, and, in the end, returns again to stillness. “Awareness,” Drake reminds us, “is endlessly creative.” The universe is the […]
Creativity and The Three Stages of Conscious Design Build, Part II: Self-Consciousness
Last time we explored unconsciousness, also known as self-centeredness, the lowest of the three stages of conscious design build and of creativity in general. It is marked by an individual’s desire to fulfill his own needs no matter what, often at the expense of others. Now lets go to the next level and see what […]
How Has Our Perception Of Creativity Changed Over Time?
According to Haydn Shaughnessy, a writer on the emerging economy, creativity has gone through several stages throughout history, including 1) an association with religion 2) romantic concept, 3) a discipline taught in art and architecture 4) as a method related to science and technology 5) as an expression of human potential. Interesting charts on page […]
Intro to the 5 Essentials of Designing and Building Sacred Space
Dear Friends, For those of you who don’t know me very well, I co-host a monthly conversation on the intersection between the built landscape and consciousness with a contractor friend of mine from Bulgaria, an amazing, heartfelt contractor named Hristiyan Atanasov. We call our events, Conscious Design Build: A Holistic Path to Better Living. Every […]
The Relationship Between Art, Creativity, and Meditation
“Creativity isn’t necessarily an obstacle to meditation but, rather, its fruit.” –Amanda Palmer quoting an unnamed friend. Let me begin by thanking my friend, Adam Gyokazan Coutts–a brilliant and irreverent man, Zen practitioner, dedicated meditator, and one who teaches others the view and techniques of meditation–for sending me the following illuminating article. You can find […]
Creativity and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Part V: How Creativity Expands Our Sense of Self
We began this series by looking at Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, noting how Maslow has creativity positioned at the uppermost level, at the level of Self-Actualization. We also noted that while the first four levels were characterized by a sense of “deficiency” or lack, this uppermost level of Self-Actualization was marked by a sense […]