I saw this over onSoluna the other day and it's had me thinking...
It's a little on the long side, but definitely worth watching! I love this author (Eat, Pray, Love) for many reasons. We obviously share a love for travel and delving into the nether lands of other cultures and seeing how living somewhere else can shape our lives. But this little clip doesn't go into that. This is about her creative process and truly thought provoking.
As with nearly everything I hear, see or read I'm always trying to relate it back to parenting. How does this information translate in a practical manner to parenting? Here's how I see it. I believe that no human being on the planet can be happy or truly fulfilled if they are not creating. When God (however you view that to be) said that he created us in his image- I believe that meant as a creator ourselves. With all the recent popularity of movies like The Secret and the work of Quantum Physics I think we're starting to realize through science how true that actually is on a practical level. So we're finding that we are creating all the time and our whole life is a reflection of what we've created for ourselves. Yet, we still have this notion that creative people are only those involved in the arts. I believe her father the Chemist was every bit as creative as she is- just in another fashion. Creating something out of nothing- a new of way of perceiving material. Doing something because you're inspired to do it- that is creativity.
I remember when I was reading The Artist Way by Julia Cameron about 15 years ago and I learned that the word inspired meant 'from Spirit' and that literally every time we are inspired by something it is a gift from Spirit. When we receive that little gift, it ought to be treated like a gift from God- because it is.
I loved the part in this talk where Elizabeth talks about that moment of transcendence that we've all experienced- now commonly referred to as 'the zone' which is so much less fantastic than calling it what the ancients did- of God. I remember watching an interview with the ice-skater Michelle Kwan after having one of these moments which resulted in a perfect 10. She said she thought of nothing and moved to an effortless state of bliss (paraphrasing- she was a teen!) and then she said when she watched it back on tape she couldn't see it- all she saw was her body. Spirit is something that is felt, not seen. When I was doing my final in my Master's in Psychology we were filmed while we counseled so that we could go back and watch ourselves objectively. But the instructors warned us that what would not show up on the screen was Spirit's work. There are moments when we're truly connected with another human being and absolute healing takes place. Those moments are inspired moments. They are of God and can't be captured on film, paper or in paint. This is the very thing that has driven most artists to a place of madness. The inspiration is of Spirit and all those attempting to put it into physical form will ultimately fail because our physical world is of another dimension. We can come close and can certainly ask for Spirit's assistance in expressing those feelings into physical form, but it will never be quite accurate. Think about describing love. Many people have spent many years in the attempt and many come close but nothing can really match describing that feeling other than the feeling itself.
So what does this have to do with kids again? Well, as always with me...it's a promo for play. Play is the work of the inspired. That is the place where transcendence takes place for kids. goosebumps happen, eyes water, neck hairs stand on end and hearts expand. Play. Unstructured, free-form, often unsupervised play. When children play they connect with Spirit. It is inspired. They follow their instincts and are led by their guts. In play, children take risks and put themselves out there. They bring into form something that wasn't there before. That is why real play should be based on creating a feeling or a mood rather than what the result is. Process not product. We've heard it a thousand times. Yet every single day when I'm at the park I watch parents attempting to direct, control and influence their children's play.
(I bring a book to the park to pretend like I'm not listening to them play- but this play was all about a ship that was at sea during a storm. The one hanging off the side kept getting washed overboard and then the others would try to save her by pulling her back up. It's always fun to see what roles they give the little ones- usually they are dying of some disease and the 2 yr old on the right has perfected dying in the arms of the big girls. She goes completely limp, opens her mouth and closes her eyes. She has a gift for it. Then someone comes up with an herbal drink or spell that brings them back)
The part about all of this that bums me out is how little most children actually get to do this these days. With all of the rushing about that happens in kids' lives these days so little time is left for inspiration. The second they have a free moment they whip out a DS, put on an ipod or tune into their cel phones and begin thumb calisthenics. So many well-meaning parents spending all sorts of money attempting to do what's best for their children and depriving them of the most magical of them all- taping into God. It's really an incredible thing when you think about it.
What if children were raised from the beginning knowing their inspiration comes from something bigger than themselves? What if we taught them that they have a responsibility only to listen and have no attachment to the outcome? What if our teaching was providing a quiet enough space for them to hear? What if we allowed them their feelings and made it safe to express them? Would that not make a difference? Would children raised like that be terrified to write another book after a successful one? Or would they be able to see things objectively and say, "This is what Spirit had to say through me this time around." And feel good about it.
