WELCOME TO THE CREATIVITY LEARNING INSTITUTE!
This weeks topic will be the 7 Principles of Creativity.
This chapter is an excerpt from "The Magic and Joy of Creativity".
WE ARE CREATIVE BEINGS! “We create our own reality via our thoughts
and perceptions moment to moment.
” At the very deepest core of our being we are making many choices, decisions,
and perceptual adjustments in our thought and emotions each second, moment and
hour of the day, ultimately leading to and resulting in the “creation of
our own personal reality.” This is creativity in it’s purest form.
Most of us take this moment to moment creative activity for granted, not realizing
the potent and powerful creative force at the core of all this activity and
energy. When we “consciously” realize, attune and tap into this creative
wellspring, we then ourselves reach new heights in expressing and using our
personal creativity.
This expansion affects us on several internal levels, mentally, spiritually
and physically. Mentally our minds become more agile and lucid, able to solve
problems more quickly. Spiritually and emotionally we become more sensitized
and aware of the subtle changes and activities within ourselves and environment
so that we respond differently. And, on the physically level, meaning materially
as well, we do, act and respond differently to a given situation.
THE 7 PRINCIPLES OF CREATIVITY
* 1. Vision/Imagination
* 2. Determination/Hope
* 3. Attunement
* 4. Focus/Concentration/Continuity
* 5. Expansion/Growth/Change
* 6. Cause and Effect
* 7. Revision/Adjustment
1. VISION/IMAGINATION
Vision and imagination are the catalysts and fertile ground of creativity. A
well developed and sensitized imagination and the ability to see beyond what’s
in front of you or unmanifested possibilities can take one to unparalleled heights
of creativity.
2. DETERMINATION
Determination is the driving force of creativity. It is the fuel that powers
the mind forward toward logical conclusions and manifest reality. This means
that determination is the energy of intended desire that carries one through
the unorganized states of mind and material realms of chaos and possibilities
to the concrete reality of the material. Determination keeps the imagination
operating at it’s highest performance level as well as actual physical
activity towards the intended goal.
3. ATTUNEMENT/EMPATHY
Attunement or empathy is the ability to become attuned or in harmonious empathy
with our goal or subject. Ultimately it is the ability to feel and view at deep
emotional and mental levels the same perception as the object. In otherwords,
You feel as it feels,you see as it sees. This ability allows through synchronization
of the two components to become in harmony with each other, thereby an exchange
of knowledge and experience occurs on deep mental levels.
4. FOCUS - CONCENTRATION - CONTINUITY
Concentration is a powerful and very necessary component of creativity. The
ability to be able to concentrate deeply yet focus and relaxed is vital to development
of creative energies and insight. What this factor does is allow one to follow
a line of connecting, continuous thought over long periods of time. This ability
allows the mind to explore deep and profound areas of knowledge, information
and possibilities through reaching the core energy and data level, ultimately
to expansion and new - relational possibilities. You can experiment with this
concept using any object, event or experience.
Try concentrating on one thing for one week. Don’t make any conclusions,
but just observe with your objective self, how many possibilities come to mind.
The key here is relaxation. The more you relax, the more you will be able to
explore. If you concentrate too hard you will tire easily and quickly. However,
the more you develop your concentration, the longer you will be able to sustain
it.
Breaks are highly important to concentration and creativity. What breaks create
is the ability for the mind to assimilate and digest the incoming information
to an intuitive as a logical conclusion. You then move to a new level of conclusion.
Thus, you come to several small conclusions along the way to the final or larger
conclusion, so to speak. Breaks can be long or short, however it is best not
to take too long a break because the line of continuity has to be re-established.
Internally you never really lose the original accumulation of facts.
I can remember many projects which I started and returned to them days, weeks,
months, and even years, amazingly starting off exactly at the point that I left
at. Sometimes of course there will have to be a review or re-acquaintance with
the information to bring it to the forefront of consciousness, but the process
happens very quickly, bringing you to a new broadened start point.
Sometimes it is necessary to “consciously” re-think the information
while on the break, while away from the actual material, processing it consciously,
making conclusions and relational connections. At other times you can just put
it in the back of your mind at a deeper level. This does not mean that you forget
about it and put it out of your mind, even though this also is an effective
techniques as well for certain levels of creativity which I’ll discuss
shortly. When we put the subject in a deeper part of our mind, actually our
sub-conscious. The information is still being processed and will emerge at some
point with an effective conclusion, perhaps with very little conscious thought
from us. This is because our sub-conscious mind is constantly working to find
a conclusive solution to any information which is search for a goal. This is
different than just inputting facts and information for the sole purpose of
memory storage. However in memory storage the higher self will always and continuously
try to come to a new conclusion to benefit the organism/you as a whole.
When we put a subject totally out of our mind and forget about it, as mentioned
previously, we have forgotten about it consciously, but the higher intuitive
mind-self has not. All data and input information is assimilated and used, therefore,
we can return to that area of concentration and it will still be there. Sometimes
more often than not, we will “act out” the new information because
it has processed itself automatically, quickly and throughout each of the mind
levels into the physical and material levels of activity.
5. EXPANSION - GROWTH - CHANGE
Expansion is the ability to accept, view and progress to new levels of growth
and change. This means that if we are stuck in one single mode of operations
or viewing, that it is very difficult to see and accept new levels of progressive
growth. Basically all things in the cosmos, our environment and internal functions
are always in a natural state of constant change. Ever evolving and adjusting
itself so as to reach new heights of operation and efficiency. We are constantly
evolving each moment of our existence. The key is to be keenly aware of these
subtle changes within ourselves as well as other concepts and relationships.
6. CAUSE AND EFFECT
The ability to recognize and understand cause and effect relationships on various
levels of the spiritual, mental and physical planes. All effects have a cause
and all causes have an effect on some level or another. This is the relational
thread that runs through the energy of creativity. This is the glue so to speak.
It is very hard to create without understanding cause and effect because creation
is the direct result of cause and effect relationships. If you want a desired
affect, then you must understand the causes behind the effect. Cause and effect
internal is a deep understanding of internal and specific functioning and working
mechanisms of a given concept or object. In other words you can create a new
car without first understanding how the first car made and functions, then you
can expand on the original concept. Cause and effect also has a direct relationship
to knowledge and facts. Ultimately this means the more facts and knowledge that
you have at your disposal, the more you will be able to do with that knowledge
in shaping the object of your desire.
7. REVISION - ADJUSTMENT
Revision is the ability to make constant changes and adjustments, small and
large over time until the desired goal and state is reached. In creation, many
adjustments and changes occur toward the end of a perfected functioning state
of being. Actually revision is very much aligned with the concept of change
in that changes are occurring. However, in this case, you affect the change
through adjustment and revision. Experimentation and exploration are definitive
components of revision. One must be willing to venture into the realm of the
unknown as well as the known to explore the possibilities of adjustment to reach
the end goal of perfection. Sometimes continuous revisions lead to directions
and paths that are not useful in the end result, however, even these paths contribute
to our overall knowledge and perception, ultimately making the end result a
much better creation.