by Pragito Dove: What is creativity? Are your conditioned ideas keeping you in a box? How can you find out where your creativity lies?

Creativity has nothing to do with any activity in particular – with painting, poetry, dancing, singing. Activity itself is neither creative or uncreative. You can paint, or sing, in an uncreative way. You can cook, or clean the floor in a creative way. Creativity is the quality you bring to whatever activity you are doing; it is an attitude, an inner approach, how you perceive things.

Your creativity is already inside you, waiting to be unleashed. If you are feeling blocked then do whatever brings you joy. It doesn’t matter what you do, do it joyfully, lovingly, with totality, and not purely out of economic motives. Be fully present and you will feel something spiritual, creative, divine, arising out of you. Love what you do regardless of what it is. If you clean the floor with love, you have done an invisible painting. You lived those moments in such delight, the value is intrinsic. Small things become great by the touch of love and delight.
Some people turn into master chefs, others open a can of soup for dinner. But then maybe the master chef is a terrible dancer and the can-of-soup person dances magically. It doesn’t matter what you are passionate about — what matters is that you follow your passion, allowing your creativity to arise from that. Every child is born creative. Children are so in the moment, so in touch with their innate joy, and spending time with children can greatly enhance your own creativity.
If you believe you are uncreative, you will become uncreative – because belief is not just belief, it opens and closes doors.  You were born creative,   but your creativity has been pushed aside if you have been filled with ideas to become ambitious, economical, and political.

When ambition enters, creativity disappears because ambition is in the future and creativity is in the present. Your creative sources have been plugged, blocked, destroyed and your whole energy has been forced into some activity that society thinks is going to pay. You have been taught to be money-oriented, power-oriented, and power is destructive, not creative. Creativity gives to the world, it does not destroy.

You have to take your life in your own hands, purify yourself of all conditionings, and suddenly you will see you are creative. You have to find what you can do, and what you cannot do. You have to grope in the dark. It is not clear-cut, you are not handed a template, but that is good, because in the very search, something grows in you. You are an opening, a potentiality for a thousand and one things and you have to choose, to feel your way. If you love your life, you will find your creativity. Dance because you love to dance, walk your dog because you love your dog and the fresh air, play tennis because you love to play tennis. Whatever you love to do, do it!  Never hide behind masks – be real, authentic, true to whatever you are doing, and you will find your creativity.
To be creative is to be close to the divine, but this closeness is available only if you pour your whole energy into your chosen activity. Discover your innermost joy and passion, and do it. Make what is invisible inside you visible, make your dream exist on the earth. Transform your potential into reality: this is the greatest joy there is. You attain real bliss when you have helped the divine shine through, when you have made the world a little more beautiful, when you have enhanced its joy. Live at your optimum. Don’t think of life as a burden, a duty to be fulfilled. Make it a dance; let it be a celebration.
You were a child once. As you pay attention to magical moments from your childhood, you help your creativity, passion, and joy grow. A new life energy runs through you. You become more receptive, more loving.
Here is a powerful technique:
Four-Minute Meditation: Gather Moments of Joy

Step One

Remember one moment from your childhood, from joyful times,

when you felt that life was magic, that just to be alive was ecstatic,

that just to breathe was enough. You didn’t need anything to make

you joyful. Gather this moment. Close your eyes and remember it.
Step Two

Now relive this moment. Become a child again. Run, sing, play.

As you continue this practice, do it for a longer time, ten, twenty,

or thirty minutes. If memories are triggered of times your passion

for a particular activity was cut off, reinfuse that activity with passion

NOW. Your life becomes revitalized with creativity and joy.

Creativity is the ability to see what other people can’t. How can

you be creative when your sight is clouded by an overbusy mind?
Spending time doing nothing, relaxing, walking in nature, sitting

on your porch, enjoying any kind of downtime that you can fit into

your day: all these help you tune in to your creativity. Laughter

and dancing help you to loosen up. Having fun, being playful, playing
sports and games, singing and dancing, and whistling

all enhance your creative process. Laughter breaks up the serious

grip of the mind so that your natural talents shine through.

Creativity means allowing the new to happen. Be courageous! Put aside memory so the past does not interfere. Let the new penetrate you and thrill your heart.

You are a human being, the very culmination of this existence; you are conscious. You have come into this world with a specific destiny – you have something to fulfill, a message to be delivered, some work to be completed. You are not here accidentally: existence intends to do something through you.

Pragito Dove

Website: www.DiscoverMeditation.com