Creativity in the Time of Incubation
I Knew that ‘Sacred Journey’ had a woman in a hood, an ancient stone bridge, and a sacred mountain with standing stones. All that came easily, and became the painting you see below. But the completion, the tieing it all together, took a few more days of allowing the right shapes, colors, and collage elements to talk to me.
The same thing happened to me last week while in Chicago. I had some days to myself, so I planned to just give myself time to write my stories. After an afternoon of repeating ideas and getting nowhere on a clean, blank notebook page, I realized setting goals seemed simple, but actually getting inspiration on demand would never work for me.
The second day I went to breakfast, changed and headed for the workout room. On the treadmill, gazing out on the hazy Chicago skyline, my story started to take shape! I had to get my body moving in order to let the magic happen. I saw the beautiful setting, the actions that carried my heroine to her secret place, her interactions with animals and the forest, and her thoughts through it all in full detail. Then I set it all down to paper as quickly as possible. When you see it all clearly, it’s a snapshot of all the senses coming together.
The Basic steps to creativity, Preparation/Incubation/Illumination/Doing, have to be personalized to work for you. Everyone says set aside regular uninterrupted quiet time, take walks in nature or naps, and make it a relaxed fun session, since the creative process needs nurturing.
For me, Morning brings wonderful insights, a flow, so writing becomes a fun time of just recording what I’ve seen and heard in the Dreamtime. No pressure here. Let the night do its Magic! Then off to the studio, my sacred space to put it all together. Don’t forget to actually Do the idea, before it disappears into the wind, and is caught by another creative. A great article about Capturing Creativity can be found here. And my favorite inspiration hero for all time, John Cleese:
“Creativity doesn’t have to be taught, it has to be liberated.” John Cleese
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