We humans are really very interesting. We are fragile and powerful and tender and harsh; we are creative and destructive and loving and indifferent. We are full of faith and full of reason while being simultaneously skeptical and unreasonable.
We are complicated and complex; wonderful and terrible and marvelous and dull.
All of it makes me wonder, how do we bring more of the good out of us? The creative, tender, loving power? The expansive faith and supportive reason? How do we draw out our complexity and marvelousness, while freeing ourselves from complications?
How do we cultivate the essential geniuses within us - each of us?
It seems to me that we are all born with the capacity to be wonderfully creative. As children - especially in the very early years - our creativity emerged in uninhibited, joyful ways. We sang loudly and often; we danced and ran and jumped for the sheer pleasure of it. We drew and scribbled and told ourselves and each other, stories. We built houses and castles and cars and magical flying machines from blocks and bricks and popsicle sticks and we changed the world with the power of our imaginations - even if only for an hour or a day or ten.
Some of us managed to hang on to that essential and creative part of ourselves as we grew into our adulthoods. But my guess is the vast majority of us did not. Even those of us who were considered "artistic" as children (myself included) have probably allowed this aspect of ourselves to be subsumed by dozens of other claims on our attention and time. For those of us who were never considered creative by conventional standards, the probability that we've prioritized opportunities for creative activity in our lives is even less likely.
But why should we even bother, you might wonder. Why does it even matter? Especially when there are so many other things I have to take care of.
Well, I would have agreed with you just a few short weeks ago. Why indeed?
Going back to my original question about cultivating the essential geniuses within us, I think it matters because I think this - being creative - might be the key or at least a grand step towards finding and freeing the best parts of ourselves. By accessing the clearer, less diluted energies of our child-selves and integrating them with the experience, wisdoms, and insights of our adult-selves, it's entirely possible that we could diminish the amount of fear that traps our minds/hearts/bodies/spirits and allow brighter, purer, better energies and beings to emerge from within us.
And what parts of our lives - our relationships, our work, our plans - couldn't benefit from that?
To be sure, in order for any of this to make sense, you have to be willing to acknowledge that we each have an essential genius within us. And to that end, let me note that the word genius, while commonly associated with a superior intellectual capacity, especially as manifested in some sort of creative activity, also means, "a peculiar, distinctive, or identifying character or spirit" - something which all of us have, should we allow ourselves to embody it. Also, I think it's particularly relevant that the word "genius" comes from the latin, "gignere," which means, "to beget," - essentially to father, produce, or create.
I'm hoping to chart a path forward to finding and embodying this essential genius - this better, brighter self within me. As one of my teachers, Arthur Samuel Joseph, has said - I'm going to do the Work of embodying my Self. I've decided to start by exercising my creative muscles. I'm not entirely certain where it's going to take me, but I know that when I allow myself to be creative - to happily dabble in dreaming and making and singing and playing, I am brighter, braver, more hopeful. When I flex that part of me, I'm left feeling rejuvenated, refreshed, young.
I truly believe that this - embodying our truest and most essential Selves - will have a material impact on everything we do and everyone we come into contact with, directly or otherwise. In fact, conversely, I'd argue that not embodying our truest and most essential Selves also has a material impact on our activities and those around us - but not necessarily the sort of impact for which we are striving. With this in mind, I'll be starting a series of posts here regarding what I'm learning, what I'm doing as part of my process, and I invite you to join me.
So, here's a first quick exercise to try:
Find a quiet place to sit and close your eyes. In your mind, think back to happy points in your childhood - the very early years, if you can. Remember what it was like, to be 4, 5, 6 years old. Try to recall the quality of the light, the things you smelled, what it felt like inside that body. Then, think about the kinds of things you did when you were playing and feeling really satisfied - things that you got to choose to do. What were they? Make a list (share them below in the comments, if you like). Think about these activities. Do they still resonate with a part of you? When you think about participating in them again, how do you feel?
