Homo Creativus
The Ape that Creates. Exploring the role of creativity in humanity.
As the great Rick Rubin said, “We are creative beings in a creative universe.” The Creator made us in its image and therefore bestowed upon us creativity.
While all organisms can be creative, such as crows strategically using sticks, whales constructing songs, or the pufferfish making mandala-like patterns on the ocean floor, there is something uniquely creative about humans. The difference is astronomical between humanity’s tech stack and the next technologically advanced species. We have built cities and structures all over the world, and the next closest technological footprint would be something like a beaver dam.
Creativity has always been used for solving survival-related requirements like acquiring food or building shelter, but beyond just surviving, what is the point of existing? And what role does creativity play in that? Well, maybe one answer is to create art. Art is intimately connected to beauty, and the most sacred style of creation is one rooted in adding beauty to the world. I believe the Creator deeply values beauty as a design feature in the universe.
If you take a look around, it’s astonishing to remind yourself that every man-made object began as an idea; an immaterial thought-form that went through a journey before being materialized.
A Synergy between Physical and Mental Capacities.
Our frontal lobes and opposable thumbs give us a tremendous advantage in turning our imagination into reality. Our tool-making ability, along with the ceiling of our minds, makes us the perfect specimen for creation.
Take the example of music:
Half of the equation is the ability to invent and craft instruments, the other half is an internal capacity to understand and experience music. Only having instruments doesn’t equal music, and neither does hearing it in your head without instruments. A Mozart symphony requires both the collection of instruments that comprise the orchestra and the genius that inspires it. The music already exists inside someone, but needs an instrument to be translated to. Instruments are like languages; the degree to which you can express yourself is limited to how well you can speak the language.
Where does creativity come from?
This is such a deep inquiry that has always been a mystery. Creativity seems to strike like a lightning bolt from the ether. It can come into your mind from what feels like an exterior source. Creativity can feel like a channel that your mind tunes in to. Some of the greatest artists, poets, and musicians didn’t take full credit for their work because they felt as if the idea chose them. They universally report the experince of art just popping into their head.
The ancient Greeks attributed all great creations to the Muses. The muses were seen as sources of divine inspiration that would come whisper into the ears of mortals, blessing them with ideas for works of art.
The framework of having something greater than yourself to be humbly in service to is a magical way to perceive the mechanics of creativity. Adopting this view makes it much more likely to improve the quality of your crafts.
The Muse most reliably responds to devotion and relentless commitment. This means that by showing up to your craft every day, especially the days when you least feel like it, you forge yourself worthy to receive genius insight and creative downloads.
Creativity cannot be controlled, but it can be cultivated by creating conditions in mind and heart.
You can never force the feel, you can only feel the force.
Being a Bridge between Worlds
Let us adopt a framing where there is:
An immaterial world (The infinite)
The human (The bridge)
And the material world (The finite)
The immaterial world is like the fertile void, it contains the potential for all forms that eventually manifest in the material world. We connect with the immaterial realm through our imagination.
We humans, are the middlemen between the immaterial and material.
We are midwives. We are portals. We are a bridge between the infinite and the finite. We are conduits of creation at the leading edge of novelty in the universe, co-creating with the universal intelligence.
Your unique antenna taps you into unique coordinates in the immaterial realm. Your job is to activate that antenna and do the work required to manifest what wants to be created through you.
If we can learn to align ourselves with a greater intelligence, we get to experience one of the most elated modes of being - Flow. The flow state is one of the most sought-after states known to man. It is, without a doubt, a mysterious mode of being where we feel our best and perform our best, yet paradoxically feel as if we aren’t really there. There is a quality of selflessness and effortlessness that glues us to the present moment and opens up room for something greater to come through us.
Don’t ask what you should create, ask what it is that wants to be born through you.
So to summarize and distill: The universe is itself creative. The universe values beauty. We humans can co-create with the universe to produce a level of beauty that could not have been without us. The state of co-creation is one of the most universally agreed upon desirable states - flow.
Discovering your Dharma
What should you create? How do you know what is yours to do?
“Dharma is the path that leads towards increasing wholeness, appreciation, attunement, connectedness, intimacy, well-being, aliveness, love, clarity, and quality of life for all beings.” - Daniel Schmachtenberger
Dharma is most commonly known as your destiny, mission, or life purpose. It is the path that is uniquely yours to walk that nobody else can. Achieving your dharma is to be in right relationship with reality. Dharma is not only an overarching vocation for your life, but it also means your path of right action in any given scenario, no matter how mundane or extravagant.
Different scenarios call for different versions of yourself to be expressed. Develop the skill of listening to what is being asked of you in any given situation.
Blu of Earth refers to this as not being “that witch, but rather that which is needed.”
Discovering and actualizing Dharma is maybe the most important task one can accomplish. It requires attuning your mind and body to your soul and learning to express it through you. For your soul is equipped with the ingredients of your gifts. It holds the blueprint of your medicine; the seed of what you can become.
Your dharma is directly tethered to your creativity because your unique impact on the world will undoubtedly involve the act of creation.
Expressing your gifts to a world that can receive and benefit from them makes you feel a natural aliveness and will to live. It helps to feel you are here on purpose. Francis Weller refers to the dynamic of sharing your gifts as Spiritual Employment.
(He also recommends that instead of asking someone, “What do you do?”, ask, “What are the gifts you were born with?”)
Remember, your ultimate gift to the world is to fully become who you are. Who you are isn’t static; it is context-dependent. Your gifts are somewhat solid, but the way they are expressed is different depending on the specifics of the circumstance. There are many facets to your authenticity.
Your gifts are also dynamic and evolving. We are human becomings just as much as we are human beings.
My belief is that discovering your dharma can be done through both:
Following your bliss.
and
Following your fear.
“Follow your bliss,” is a Joseph Campbell quote. I interpret this as moving in the direction of what naturally feeds your aliveness. Where do you find yourself slipping into flow states? What would you choose to spend your time doing if money were irrelevant?
“Following your fear,” I learned from Stephen Pressfield’s book called, ‘The War of Art.’ More on that in a giffy. Joseph Campbell has another beautiful quote which says, “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” Another complimentary quote by the eccentric Terrance Mckenna proclaims that, “Nature loves courage.”
Accomplishing our soul’s mission must involve conquering fears. This is a non-negotiable. It may sound daunting but it is quite meaningful to overcome these obstacles. Without fear, there would be no need for bravery. Bravery, much like beauty, is deeply valued by the Creator.
The War of Art.
In his book, The War of Art, Steven Pressfield lays out his philosophy of creativity, which I believe is invaluable. It is one of those books every human should read.
One of the central themes in the book is the inescapable internal creative battle every artist must go through. He names the main oppressive force against the artist as Resistance. In his eyes, Resistance is the Devil. It is the reason dreams never get actualized, and lives remain unlived. It manifests in many ways, but most commonly as the voice of fear and doubt.
Ultimately, if we properly perceive Resistance, it can be our greatest gift because it shows us what direction to move in for our growth. Pressfield says, “The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”
Your wounds are intimately connected to your gifts.
One of my teachers, Jamie Wheal, says your dharma is the overlap between your talent and your trauma. Going through specific personal struggles can give you insight into how to help other people struggling with similar problems. Your unique character traits can be applied toward healing the areas of the world that you have been most damaged by.
A once crippled drug addict will become a counselor in recovery. Someone who goes blind will teach people how to truly see. A successful comedian’s humor originates from a coping strategy for trauma. A rape victim will become a therapist who knows an effective model to heal from it.
Oftentimes, God will orchestrate our lives in such a way that our major life challenges invite us to grow into the person the world needs us to be. Our wounds get alchemized into our gifts. Again perceiving your challenges in this way produces inspiration to heal, learn, and transform from them. Inspiration is an essential ingredient to being fully alive and singing your song.
You cannot necessarily choose your struggles, but you can choose to take on the perspective that they are there to be transformed into a gift; to shape your offering to the world. These gifts can only be unlocked after doing the healing work. If your wounds are left unattended to, destructive patterns will continue to limit your potential, and your gifts will remain latent. It is only when wounds have been alchemized that they turn into wisdom.
The healing process can be seen as uncovering a diamond. The diamond contains your gifts, but it is buried in muck. The muck must be cleared away if you are to express your gifts purely and successfully.
Not Heading the Call Could Kill You.
“Yielding to Resistance deforms your soul.” Ignoring your soul’s calling won’t just lead to regret, but can also do harm to your physical health. In the War of Art, Pressfield tells a story about a woman who discovered she had a terminal illness.
This woman always wanted to be a doctor, but chose a different field to work in because that is what she felt she should do. She was diagnosed with cancer, and instead of giving up, she decided to pursue her heart’s wish of being a doctor. She entered med school, and at some point afterwards, her cancer went into remission.
"What cured her was not being a doctor. What cured her was doing her work. Resistance had been killing her. She had been dying, spiritually and physically, because she wasn't doing what she was meant to do."
Facing the reality of death inspired her to do what she always wanted to do.
I pray we choose to evolve before the whisper turns into a life threatening scream.
You still have time, but it is running out for us all. There comes a time when we must make a sacrifice and lay our swords down to the path that wants to unfold through us. We must answer the call of becoming who the universe wants us to be.
The evolution of the universe has led to the emergence of beings that can consciously create. The master creator created mini-creators. Because God is inherently creative, when we exercise our human creativity, we move closer to God. Creativity is a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human. When we don’t create, we lose touch with our own true nature, and suffer the disease of separation.
Your creations aren’t just your gift to the world, but your duty to the Cosmos. And it’s not just about what you create but who you become in the process. Every project refines your soul and adds beauty to it. You must answer the call if you are to make it to a deathbed without regrets. It won’t be easy, but nothing that is worth it is easy.
I’ll wrap with a Meister Eckhart poem.
You Cannot Have Both
Which do you desire, wine or water? Because you cannot have both in the same cask.
In fact, it is difficult to enjoy wine from a cask not entirely free of its previous liquid— which is why pouring out water is necessary before you should fill it with wine.
It’s the same for you: pour out what distracts you, and make room for othe single love that alone fulfills.
You cannot have both your golden life and giving in to the overwhelming plethora of distractions that are aimed at your brain stem. To choose your dharma is a sacred sacrifice that shall lead to a peaceful deathbed.