Bill Bockus: The Universe: Theoretical Physics for the Young Adult. (8)
In this chapter we will show how developing Creative Skills is the second step towards Expanded Creativity:
* When using both Inspiration-intuitive and Expression-intellectual Modes of the Creative Process, we develop abilities vital to achieving excellence in any field.
* Creative Skills learned through the arts prepare us to create on expanded levels, to draw upon and enhance aspects of our entire organism__ physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual.
* The major Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual Skills needed by the serious artist.
* How the Brain Wave States relate to creativity.
* What Creative Personalities are like and how they create.
* How any spiritual or artistic discipline stimulates the brain to disclose the truth about oneself.
* How relying on our Inner Psychic Child brings awareness of the power within and encourages trust in ourselves.
* Artists admit that in their greatest works they radically transcend everyday reality, connect with something far greater than themselves and invite higher powers into their work to uplift those who later view it.
* How artworks hold a sort of Creative Magic, that connects their viewers with soul powers and integrates physical, mental and emotional parts of themselves into more coherent personalities.
* When one opens to The Creative Force that inspires, transforms and makes everything new, he one day realizes without a doubt, how refinement of Creative Skills lifts him far beyond material artworks__ and absolutely impels him to fashion a more creative lifestyle, as well.
***
It's 3 AM. I'm in Idaho Falls at the Eastern Idaho, Regional Medical Center ER with a severe nosebleed. Hours later, I'm ready to go home, but whenever I stand up I start losing consciousness. Previously, when I fainted, I'd sometimes enter an altered state of awareness where I'd receive spiritual insights. Right now, I'd rather pass out than suffer the nausea and vertigo of being only half-conscious. To avoid falling and hurting myself on the tile floor, I reach towards the floor with one hand, mumbling that I'm about to faint, but the nurse holds me up by the other arm and calls for a wheelchair.
"You don't have to faint." she says firmly. "Just pick out a dot in one of those tiles and stare at it; concentrate on it__ place all your mind's attention there."
She doesn't understand. I want to go to the "other side" and have my "peak experience". But she continues holding me up and repeating how I must focus on that stupid tile. Finally, realizing this is getting me nowhere, besides prolonging the discomfort, I do what she suggests, and to my amazement, the nausea and dizziness immediately vanish.
***
Using both Inspiration-intuitive and Expression-intellectual modes of the Creative Process, we develop abilities vital to achieving excellence in any field. Creative Skills learned through the arts prepare us to create on expanded levels, to draw upon and enhance aspects of our entire organism __physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritua__ unlocking life purposes, refining our inner lives and preparing us for Part II: Basic Inner Technologies.
When attuning to the Force within, First Enlightenment Stage individuals awaken a fundamental creative drive. When in the Inspirational mode, our physical senses become keener, and creative skills awaken. Can we, simply by shifting our Focus, change our perceptions of reality? Can something as simple as Attention either keep us in the present or transport us to another state of awareness? The nosebleed experience above suggests it can.
As we regularly engage in the arts, we change our motives for expressing whatever inspired us. First we try to become skillful with tools and equipment. During this stage, most artists strive to make the artwork look "real". The invention of the camera, however, devastated painters' incomes at the end of the nineteenth century. Some began abstracting subject matter from the very act of painting itself. No longer concerned about making their art look "real", they stopped imitating nature, although nature remained a primary inspirational source. In impressionistic or abstract designs, the forms, colors or lines were only suggested, inviting viewers to complete the work of art with their own minds.This required Imagination, Visualization, Independent Judgment and Risk Taking.
In time, some painters moved beyond realistic judgment to express their personal perspectives of the outside world. Realists see the surface appearance of things as their truth, while Abstrationists believe truth lies in our inner impressions or experiences of the subject. The more they can simplify the subject matter, the more freedom of expression they enjoy.
Whether we Focus on the objective or the subjective as artists, our task is to portray the world either as we perceive it or as we desire it to be. We have succeeded when we produce expressions that deliver our personal truths and beliefs about life.
However we chose to express ourselves, certain Creative Skills need to be learned. These skills can be acquired by anyone having a passion for regular practice. Although they spring from engagement in creative activities__ music, painting, theater, dance, writing, sports, prayer, scientific innovation, meditation, ritual, teaching or healing, etc.__ when approached with an open mind, they have a higher side to them.
Physical Skills
The Creative Process wanders; it stops to explore, falls down and then gets up again. We move forward one step at a time. The major Physical Skills needed by the serious artist are Movement, Timing and Discipline. (These are explained in Archives. Timing is discussed in greater depth in Chapter 6.)
Mental Skills
Every creative act__ prayer, manifesting, healing, painting, sports, music, science and even humor__ always occurs on more than one plane of mind. Intellect dwells in the left brain hemisphere and Intuition in the right. In Chapter 1, the alternation of Intuitive and Intellectual modes was used while painting a watercolor. Any creative act requires the two be balanced for the duration of the task. The Mental Skills used in creating are Imagination, Visualization, Attention/Attitude, Harmony, Discernment, Detachment, Organization, Unstable Equilibrium, Repatterning, Intention, and Perceptual Flexibility. (See Archives for definitions.)
Emotional Skills
In youth, I daily dreamed about “becoming” an artist. Dramatic changes occurred when I dared to declare, “I am an artist”. Creative activities flowed more smoothly. The more serious I became about my work, the more real it seemed___ the more real I seemed.
Artful persons balance the challenges of what they can or cannot do. Too little challenge leaves us bored. We must stretch ourselves somewhat to keep life interesting, but too much challenge for one’s skill level can be discouraging__ we feel anxious. The dark periods in life create spaces into which new skills and growth in awareness can flow. They can be uncomfortable, even horrendous while they happen, but when all the fussing and sniveling die down, we find a disguised blessing.
The Emotional Skills used in Creative Work are Joy, Willingness to Risk and Trust. (See Archives .)
Spiritual Skillssiritual Skills.
Creative Skills are vital to consciousness evolution. They entrain both the masculine left-brain and the feminine right-brain, help us mature sexually and can finally lift us beyond our “adolescent/terrible teens” stage. We then attract information on how to propel creativity to even greater heights; then we anchor it to Earth by offering it to the outer world. As Enlightened creative personalities, we hear the song of the universe in all that surrounds us, and although we may not always be able to identify the tune, we can dance in harmony with it.
Expanded Brain States: The beta brain wave state relates to everyday waking awareness and our logical, reasoning mind. Beta waves vibrate at levels of 14 cps (cycles per second) or more. “We have all four states of mind__ alpha, beta, theta and delta__ going on in us at all times. We can, however, Focus awareness at any one of these levels, causing the majority of our brain waves to vibrate on that level of choice.” (13)
Beta and alpha brain waves are both closely related to creative endeavors. Right-brain modes,Alpha states__ daydreams, intuitions, visions, prayers, holistic perceptions__ are frequently labeled the “artistic brain state”, in contrast to the logical, reaoning, more sequential left side of the brain. Alpha can interpret and blend vast amounts of seemingly unrelated bits of information into broader views in less than a second.
A "Second Wave" grandson participated in a university sponsored think-tank experiment at his high school. A problem was proposed__ one over which a team of college teachers and students had labored for three weeks. My grandson had the answer in ten minutes, stating that the experiment indicated that "the effect occurred before the cause". When asked how he was able to reach this conclusion so quickly, he suggested his musical training allowed him to “think in different ways”.
Three Spiritual Skills necessary to both artwork and spiritual work are Resonant Vibrations, the Attracting Force and Trust.
(See Archives).
Brain Wave States
Serious creative work can propel us into higher brain wave states. “The characteristics of this subjective state are those that artists speak of:.. a sense of close connection with the work, a sense of timelessness, difficulty in using words or understanding spoken words, a feeling of confidence and a lack of anxiety, a sense of close attention to shapes, spaces and forms that remain nameless.” (4)
Oddly, alpha state, the subconscious, Inner Psychic Child, is even more alert than the daily beta mind. Our memories reside in our subconscious alpha, including the beliefs programming our views of who we think we are and the realities we’re currently experiencing. They form our personalities. (13)
The right brain hemisphere holds the "sixth sense". Many artists develop spontaneous, powerful paintings by relying on their Inner Psychic Child, their subconscious, which brings awareness of the power within and encourages trust in themselves. We come to not only believe, but also to know from first-hand experience, that all life is connected. In the Piscean Age, we operated with a strong belief system, from faith, but in the Aquarian Age, we operate from a knowingness that arises from direct experience of the divine..
Creativity is also alive in sports, through unity of body, mind, emotion and spirit. “Witness the unpredictable moves of great basketball players, the surprising ring strategies of inspired boxers, the novel movements of great gymnasts and dancers".... "To explore the terra incognita of our latent capacities, we must love adventure, complexity and strange territory.” (9)
Athletes often describe this expanded state of awareness as being “In the Zone”. Tai Chi was taken up by Robert, “The Chief”, Parish of the Charlotte Hornets to increase his proficiency on the basketball court. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar studied yoga. Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls spoke about being in "The Zone" after a game against the Portland Trailblazers__ game one of the NBA Finals in 1992, when he scored thirty-nine points, including six three-pointers. “Whenever this feeling comes”, said Jordan, “you just cherish it. What it feels like is you’re out there by yourself. When I got in that rhythm, it was like__ a force.” (6)
The myth of the artist being selfish, arrogant or aloof comes from her appearance and behavior when in The Zone__ the right brain, alpha, intuitive state. Her close attention to the work and temporary inability to converse or to understand what’s said to her makes her seem aloof and disconnected from ordinary life situations. She is. She seems detached, but if her work will uplift or benefit other humans, society or even the planet, it's hardly selfish.
The Creative Personality.
Creative individuals can be found in every field. The artists interviewed for this book revealed what creative people are like, why they creates and how they grew from their work. Artists generally lead full lives, share themselves with others, find nourishment in family, friends, the workplace and community, and value their connection to humankind. They are responsible people who use their innovative gifts in many areas of life. Most artists work alone in "the stillness", setting time aside to be in the Zone regularly, because they understand the importance of that inner, creative connection. They often express gratitude for the privilege of creating their arts and for living on Earth in these currently "interesting" times.
An overwhelming 90% interviewed applied the principles of what they discovered through artwork to other areas of their lives. About 10% were happiest while creating, feeling alive and enjoying life more. Others used art to relax, to find peace of mind and to be at one with Universe. Still others used art to develop and keep their individuality... “producing what I liked, rather than what someone else said I should.” A professional painter said, “You really don’t need to wait for the right mood__ with practice, you can learn to turn on the creative juices at any time.”
Creative people exhibit their male and female characteristics in equal amounts, having integrated both left and right brains. Creative men are manly, yet nurturing, sensitive and intuitive. Creative women are girly, but independent, take charge when necessary and usually lead their peer groups. Both genders, once they access their Inner Psychic Childs, seek increased complexity, rather than choosing the simpler path of least resistance.
Creative persons are childlike, but never “childish”. They can stay in touch with their inspirational sources for longer periods than non-creative persons, perhaps throughout life. One evolved artist exclaimed, ”I don’t have to do it all by myself; I ask for help from higher powers, and I get it!” Some artists knowingly, or unknowingly, channel their artworks from higher intelligences.
Learning to feel good about expressing their individuality without receiving open appreciation was a major lesson for some: “We may not be perfect, but we must keep striving toward higher levels anyway.” Many repeatedly tried to create works they thought they couldn’t achieve until there was no more reason to fear or be jealous of others. Overcoming envy and fear released them from the tensions of the productive process.
Innovative individuals are alert to the emotional side of their interactions with others and often follow feelings more than logic. Most have balanced extrovert and introvert aspects. We often hear how artists, actors, or poets "suffer more", but this is a by-product of being in a field where it's very difficult to get recognition or an adequate financial return. "The general attitude of our society is that artists or creative people aren't responsible, that they're ‘aimless, shiftless and poor’ (the starvings artists)"..."‘radicals, hippies’"... "‘into deviant lifestyles’.’" (8) Artists are no more likely to be among society’s lost souls than non-artists. A doctor, nurse, teacher or business associate plumber, computer technition or mechanic graduates from college or technical training to move into work positions already established in society, but when an artist graduates, he must make his own niche in the world.
Excitement and ecstasy were common for socially-minded artists. When passion flowed freely, Universe reciprocated with improbable moves and fantastic surprises. Unique experiences included caring for a grandchild and “‘being the brush’ that helped her respond positively, feeling fulfillment and joy through acting as a creator in this way.” Bliss blossomed from being able to offer beauty, compassion, honesty, kindness, understanding or assistance to the needy. (See Archives for more)
Higher Senses.
Many artist respondents were obviously spiritually aware. They admitted that in their greatest works they radically transcended everyday reality, connected with something far greater than the self and invited higher powers into their work to uplift those who would later view it.
The Mongolian professional artist, who channeled much of her work, confided, “Sometimes I painted as if the artwork were already completed on a higher energetic level, and my physical body was only an instrument bringing it into solid form. When I could perceive nothing more to be done for the work, I would stop. It seemed as if only ten or fifteen minutes had passed, but the clock would show it closer to two or three hours. I'd look at what lay on the watercolor paper before me. My eyes would fill with tears, my heart beat joyously, over-flowing with gratitude for the privilege of delivering that elegance into physical reality__ and for the sheer ecstasy of being alive in this time and this space.”
Modern art and music become ugly when they portray things no one likes to see or hear. But great art causes the heart to expand and can be experienced on many levels, no matter how little art appreciation the viewer has absorbed. Establishing creative outlets and sharing techniques with others bring feedback from the environment and evoke faith in both self and universe.
Originality births out of unrestrained explorations of concepts, emotions and techniques. To be truly original, we express strictly according to the most personal or unfamiliar parts of our beingness. And if we don't enjoy our work, we will seldom go beyond what others in our field have already produced__ neither will we have the incentive to hang tough and keep trying when the muck deepens in those unexplored territories. And those who no longer__ or never did__ truly love what they do, will stop creating and evolving once they reach preconceived ideas of how much money or recognition they originally hoped to achieve.
Mandala.
Watercolor is my medium of choice the summer I enroll in crystal healing classes at Grand Institute, Teton Park, Wyoming. Our instructor, Dr. Marcel Vogel, continually stresses the phrase: “Water links life to Earth.” He teaches us to vitalize things around us with our essence. Any of us can Focus on a spot on the land and Imprint it with our mind or a crystal, much as animals do with body fluids, or as a painter does with his medium and canvas or paper. Sensitive persons can sit or lie on that spot__ or reach out towards it__ and feel the artist's essence..
Both quartz crystals and human bodies are vessels that attract and store Energies. “Records are written in stone”, announced Dr. Vogel. Ancient artists of Egypt, India, Sumeria, the Yucatan or the Andes lay hands on their stone artworks and pulsed instructive messages into them. Thousands of years later, anyone touching those artworks can still intuit their messages. With appropriate training, we too, can receive, cohere, intensify and project energies into our artworks or any matter.
As he demonstrates transpositions of the human body’s subtle energies to me, Marcel predicts: “You will be teaching this through your artwork”. Later, he tells me how to structure and program the water for my paintings. Structured water can be programmed/charged with messages that are later transferred to paper, pigments and viewers__ or to human bodies. (Chapter 12).
Home again, I create mandalas__ paintings in a circular form__ based on a client’s astrological birth chart. Sacred Geometry shapes and proportions included in these works can enhance contemplation or meditation. Mandalas aid the viewer to connect with soul powers, integrating physical, mental and emotional parts of self into a more coherent personality. Mandalas are pictured throughout this text.
After studying the inherent energies of natural materials, I used them to paint the mandalas. Natural ox-hair or sable brushes with wooden handles and pristine spring water from Idaho’s Craters of the Moon area entrained the artworks with pure energies. Paint pigments __ground up minerals__ received and held the water’s messages, bonding with the pure cotton-rag paper.
A study of the Kabala as taught by the Brotherhood of Light correlates astrological symbols and geographical locations with color, plant materials, minerals or gemstones, using sounds and significant imprinting principles. These are programmed into the paintings with crystal techniques. I want to use the Four Elements: Earth, represented by the pigments and paper; Air, which dries the watercolor medium; Water, holding the intended programs and Fire, representing the painter’s intentional thoughtforms. A fifth element, Ether__ the energetic fabric of space__ The Creative Force Field__ carries the potential for inspired organization and manifestation.
I also wish to include the Four Kingdoms of Nature: mineral, vegetable, human and animal. The first three are easy. I already know the zodiac sign correspondences to the paint pigments, to the plant forms and to the human element (the viewer whose birth chart is being interpreted). But nowhere can I find information as to animals relating to all twelve zodiac signs.
At the Grand Institute crystal healing classes, I exchange tales about metaphysical and spiritual experiences with Lori, a Utah shamaness. Later, at the Los Angelas Crystal Convention, she is drawn to the booth of Sun Bear, a Native American. He smiles, and says, “I have something for your friend” handing her a copy of his book, “The Medicine Wheel: Earth Astrology”, by Sun Bear and Wabun. (15) He tells her to give it to the friend who is looking for this information, insisting it be free of charge. Lori knows I’m an astrologer and interested in Native American Lore, so she accepts. After she mails it to me, I find it contains a list of the totem animals relating to all twelve zodiac signs.
Yes, Inner Psychic Child-subconscious can attract the highest and best to us, as well as negativities. There is far more to this First Enlightenment business than just sensing the Creative Force at work in the world. By invoking both Intellect and Intuition__ while painting, or NOT while painting__ by letting materials or new situations find their own way to be, a whole new type of form can come into being. (Figure 1: “Uranus Rising” mandala.)
Symbols are windows through which we view the mystical nature of our being. Our personal essence forms a brilliant pattern of energies pictured in auras, astrological wheels and mandalas. Ancient, powerful effects lie hidden in sacred mandala symbols.The circular chart or painting reacts spiritually upon its maker as well as upon its viewer, confirming that humans are basically energy beings.
“This inner spontaneous empathy, when expressed through art, can resonate with and heal that part of viewers seeking to return to wholeness".... "At the same time, it seems that the works of art themselves begin to carry, emanate and transmit a numinous healing energy, being charged and encoded with the activated spiritual, mental and emotional energy of the artist".... "what quantum science calls ‘entrainment’ begins to take place. When a system comes into harmony within itself and becomes ‘coherent’ (of a unified resonance), it"... "gains the capacity to ‘entrain’ or pull after itself another system which may be out of harmony or ‘out of phase’.” (16)
Each of us is an incredible reservoir of creative energy. Everything impacts our senses, and we can choose what effect that impact will have on us. We can plod through life lost in a fog of numbing dailyroutines leaving us blind to our inner spirit’s creative potentials. Or, we can choose to awaken to Creator/Spirit, to other people, and to our local environment and use that awareness to nurture the reality within.
Creative people are far more than just generators of aesthetic handiwork and fantastic moves. We may never win recognition or receive a dime for our work. That’s not imperative in the larger scheme of things, for on higher levels, it’s the striving__ not the result__ that counts. Nevertheless, the Creative Skills we develop can carry us through a lifetime of beauty, richness and fulfillment as we radiate that nourishment to all who thirst for it.
Any spiritual or artistic discipline stimulates the brain to disclose the truth about oneself. But that’s not enough__one must live that truth, as well. Dr Paul Ray’s company, American Lives, does market research on opinion polling. (17) He sees the American population divided into three sub-cultures: 1) the traditional or “religious right”, 2) the “moderns” who focus their tunnel vision on earning and spending more money and 3) the “Cultural Creatives”, a new group whose interests include altruism, environmentalism, global consciousness, women’s issues, spirituality and self-empowerment. (www.wisdomuniversity.org/cultural-creatives.htm)
These are not “New Agers”, but they are optimistic and have a strong social conscience. They are careful consumers.They live a different sort of life, choose authenticity over fakes or media hypes, pay less attention to TV or advertising, read many books and attend workshops and cultural events. Many produce or engage in arts or crafts as well. Cultural Creatives prefer real experiences over second or third-hand information and over collecting material goods.
When a First Enlightenment Stage individual attunes to his Inner Psychic Child-subconscious, he begins to sense that he is leading a double life: the everyday outer life, and a mysterious, enticing inner life. His mind, body and feelings seem to re-order themselves into new forms of energy and harmony, as if they, too, are artistic mediums. When a truly committed individual opens to the Creative Force that inspires, transforms and makes everything new, he one day realizes without a doubt, how refinement of Creative Skills lifts him far beyond material artworks__ and absolutely impels him to fashion a more creative lifestyle, as well.
***
Chapter 2: Credits
(7) Wakefield, Dan. “Creativity: Inner Spirit as Muse”. Audio. Laura Lee Radio Show.
(6) Wakefield, Dan: Creating From Within Spirit: Living Each Day as a Creative Act. 1996. Ballantine Books, Random House, NY, NY.
(8) Bockus, Bill. The Universe: Theoretical Physics and Astronomy for the Young Adult. 2000. Print Place, 1943 Coolidge, Altadena, CA. 91001
(9) Murphy, Michael. The Future of the Body: Explorations Into the Further Evolution of Human Nature. pg. 120, pg. 562
(* footnote, pg. 581). 1993. Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 5858 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA. 90036.
(10) Arguelles, Jose’. The Mayan Factor: The Path Beyond Technology, pg. 55. Inner Traditions * Bear & Company, P. O. Box 388, Rochester, VT 05767- 0388. www.gotoit.com
(11) Diaz, Adriana, Audrey Flack. Freeing the Creative Spirit: Drawing on the Power of Art to Tap the Magic and Wisdom Within. 1992. Harper Collins Pub., 10 East 53rd St., New York, NY. 10022.
(12) Iasos. Inter-Dimensional Music, 33 Varda Landing; Sausalito, CA 94965. 415-479-0700.
(13) Probable Future Corp. Remote Viewing Audio Tape #1: , 6574 N. State Rd.7, Suite 154, Coconut Creek, FL 33073-3617.
(14) The Mountain Astrologer. Aug/Sept, pg. 17. 1997. P.O. Box 970, Cedar Ridge, CA 95924
(15) Sun Bear and Wabun. The Medicine Wheel: Earth Astrology. 1980 Prentiss-Hall Press. New York, NY.
(16) International Journal of Healing and Caring Newsletter. Jan/Feb. 2003. www.holistichealingresearch.com
(17) Ray, Dr. Paul. “Cultural Creatives”. Laura Lee Radio Show. Audio Cassette. www.lauralee.com
***