The Importance Of Creativity

Five years ago I posted a video on a website called Vimeo.  I was probably 16 or 17 at the time.  I took the video during one of my first visits out to the farm, right after we bought the land. I had completely forgotten about this until I recently stumbled across my account on that website.   I remember how much fun I had creating that video, and how I dreamed of filming documentaries that instilled peace into the viewer.  

During this time in my life, I was free.  It was a time when I had no worries or real adult responsibilities.  I used to lay in meadows all day painting, singing, and dancing.  This was also when i first started my yoga practice, and i was beginning to feel the connection with my own intuition and spirituality. 

But then real life began.  Making videos, painting pictures, creating things, held no value in the eyes of society.  I was told I needed to get a formal education, and get a real world job.  My life suddenly became filled with endless textbooks, lectures, and late nights studying very “structured” material.  Suddenly all those creative things i used to love, became a waste of time.  Time that could be used for studying.

This time in my life was probably when I suffered the most.  Mentally i fell into a very deep depression, it felt like all the life force energy had been completely drained out of me.  To be honest, it took me years to crawl out of that dark hole I dug myself into.

But each of us is born as unique individuals with gifts and talents that we are made to use creatively.  We are creative beings, and naturally we all create without much effort.  Weather its art, food, dance, ideas, joy.  Creativity is endless, infinite, and unlimited.  You aren't born without it, you can't use it up, it's always there.

When I moved out here to the farm, the distractions from working, city life, material things, were removed.  I had so much more space in my brain.  And all of a sudden, this creative force came flooding back.  This creativity  was always there within me, but the material world is so much louder and intrusive.

Here i am five years later, doing exactly what i was doing back when i was really connected to my creativity.   Making videos, sharing the beauty I see in the world.   

Looking back, I understand that my suffering came from lack of connection to myself, to my own truth.   I can see that this creativity was always there, but i wasn't paying any attention, and ignoring what was trying desperately to come out of me.  

Its pretty crazy that naturally, without effort, my love for videography, slowly entered back into my life.  It came back  during a time when i was deep into my yoga practice.  Yoga is a beautiful thing that can completely clear your mind, to create space, so that we can finally listen to ourselves.  But theres many different practices that can help us reconnect to our own creativity.

Practice Creativity by sitting in wonder at the beauty of nature, love, humanity.  Ask questions, solve problems.  Discover something new to you that has always intrigued your mind.  Experiment. Dance.  Be fearless!  You ARE creative, all we need to do is listen to our own inner truth.  Think back to a time when you felty completely free, maybe it was when you were a child.  What kinds of creative things did you love to do back then?  

Here is a link to the video i made: https://vimeo.com/130065812