Creative Expression – Avenue to God

It has been my life long passion to dance, draw, sing, move, play and be in the joy of the moment. But I didn’t know that for soooooo long.

I put my creativity away, behind a curtain, to fit in and be like all the other moms and wives in my corporate circles. When I participated in a week-long workshop with the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology I was given permission to be fully unemcumbered and to dance.

An 11 minute dance with my eyes closed, no music - maybe a little like whirling dervishes, I don’t know, but it became a spiritual experience. I ended up staying for two years in the program, getting my Masters in Transpersonal Psych and Creative Expression.

My passion reborn. I found my path to God – the full expression of my own soul.

I must admit, I still don’t give myself the gift of delving into my creativity on a regular basis. I do it more in the moment. Why is that? Life gets in the way sometimes. But I know when I do drop into another ’space’ and allow myself to see and feel the energies that flow through me when I am performing, journaling, whatever non-linear, artistic form I feel like embracing on any given day, I bathe my soul in beauty and it is soooo happy.

My article, Creative Expression: Avenue to God was published in the Association for Human Potential in 2004. It is written for professionals holding space for the healing of patients but I believe we can all relate.

Here are the first few paragraphs:
The joy of using the arts to celebrate life and create an avenue to God, variously known as our Higher Self, Spirit, or the Divine, is not questioned in the indigenous world. Yet, Western society is not so kind to those who express their power in this way. The feminine energies of intuition, creativity, and harmony have given way to logic, speed, and mass production.

Burdened by society’s expectations, many people are understandably afraid to quiet their minds and risk delving into unknown territory. Yet, more than ever we need to reclaim our creativity to reach ourpotential and experience freedom and joy.

I reclaimed my childhood sense of creativity and awe during a weeklong seminar held at the Omega Institute during Fall of 1999. There in my first course at the Institute of Transpersonal
Psychology, I learned to submit to the force of creative expression and delve into my unconscious,
bringing forth personal images, symbols and experiences to feed my soul.

Until that point, I had no awareness of how stifled I had become or how far I had strayed
from my core.

If you would like to read the article, you can find it here: Creative Expression: Avenue to God Happy dancing!

Join the Conversation: What creative part of you are you holding back? What would happen if you let it out to play?