3. The CREATIVE PERSONA

Who or what are we ? We assume many roles in life, go through many stages, from childhood to old age, identify ourselves with either the body or the mind, activities, hobbies, emotions, ideas, careers, occupations . . . So what or who are we really?  If you add nationality, religion, caste, creed, then the list expands further! Are we all split personalities, then ?
We are selves within selves and identities within identities, and none of them are true, for none of them are permanent, if you look carefully. Then what is it that we could hold onto in this changing world and within these changing selves ? The standard answer would be : my soul. But then I have not seen it. So how do I contact it ?

There is a way. For, there is within me, the heart, the spiritual aspect of my being, the doorway to the soul. When we feel intense emotion, it is the heart that reacts -- either bursting with joy or contracting in pain. Even an atheist feels this. When someone asks us a personal question, and our answer begins with "I", see where your thumb points to: that is the location of your spiritual heart !! (Sree Ramana Maharshi said this) Notice that you do not point to the head or the feet. "I" is located in the heart, and that is where the journey to Self begins.

I believe firmly that within each one of us, there is a creative person, and it is this persona (the actual being of someone, the individual personality; Source: The Oxford Latin Dictionary) that is closest to our SELF. Some have been able to express their creativity by coming into contact with this creative persona, others are yet to; it is a matter of time and of course, a willingness to participate in the CREATIVE PROCESS. So what constitutes the 'creative process' ? How does one embark on this journey? 

 

The creative process is not different from the process of life !! It is from life itself that this creative identity is born. I know many of you might be thinking of all the Art classes and Writing workshops, Singing lessons and Photography sessions you may or may not have attended. There we are talking about creative 'technique'. You can learn technique from experts and this certainly helps but technique is a frame-work. What are you going to fill the frame with ? The CONTENT is what makes you unique. Content comes from what your life is and what you have understood about it. Your art is your interpretation and understanding about life. Creativity, thus is born out of life experience. That is why a great painter has so many forgers imitating his paintings. A forgery, however perfect cannot be as valuable as the original because it does not have the stamp of genuine experience. (Always wondered about this, have the answer now :0 )

Creativity is essentially our response to life. It is an attitude of embracing life, without defences and at the same time, not losing our sense of integrity. Without this twin attitude of openness and holding on to basic values, one cannot create. Why?
Those who write will be familiar with the blank-page-syndrome! When faced with the task of writing something from scratch, you stare at the blank paper in front of you and you keep staring. You may re-arrange your desk, change your pen/font, play with your dog, go for a walk or take a nap, but the page just stares back at you ! Two reasons for this:
  
The words do not come from the mind. Words are the vehicle carrying an idea and ideas are born in the furnace of the heart. Experience when distilled and condensed, gives birth to an idea. This happens not because of the mind, but when the mind 'allows' this process by taking a back seat. There is a higher intelligence working in us, whose seat is the heart and it is this 'higher intelligence' (called buddhi/intellect) that organises experience and gives it a meaning. This is the creative persona. Once this becomes active, then the words or the painting or the music FLOWS through different faculties and gets expressed.

The second obstacle is again from the mind. Even when an idea begins to flow and you start painting or writing or anything else that you feel expresses who you are, the mind begins to JUDGE. It is a self-appointed critic, the twin brother of the ego. When judgement begins, the idea that had shyly peeped out of the heart runs back inside, unless you just tell the mind to lay off. 
The mind is like the middle-man, a necessary evil! Why is the mind such an obstacle, when it is in fact, such an important component of the human being. The answer lies in the fact that the 'creative persona' puts us in touch with our true selves. When we distil meaning out of the experiences of our lives, we are shedding illusions and coming closer to the Truth.  The ego does not like this. The ego/false sense of self thrives in illusion and it acts through the mind. It therefore does everything possible for Truth to remain hidden.
Notice how when you embark on a creative adventure, all kinds of obstacles raise their heads. Don't give up, you are on the right track !
In conclusion, if you want to create, let the mind be in 'suspended animation' and allow the heart full reign.

2. How Does One Read POETRY?

When something deeply touches the heart, poetry and indeed all true art springs forth. 
Didn't Bhagawan say, 'ART comes from the HEART'? 
And then again, 'Don't be artificial, be hearti-ficial !!"
Here is yet another gem:
"Be COMPOSERS, not computers" (To paraphrase it: Be CREATIVE, not mechanical)

Bhagawan standing on the steps of the Anantapur College foyer

CREATIVITY is a process, a process of opening the heart to the core of life. In this post, I talk about poetry, but I think it is applicable to all creative pursuits. If you have a command over language, you can rhyme words and create verses. I used to do this a long time ago. Then one day, I stopped doing it, because it felt inauthentic and somehow untrue. It was not the real thing. Shouldn't poetry flow? Why must I struggle to find words and then match them and rhyme them and so on?

I used to read poetry and study poetry and often I didn't understand what the poets meant. Poetry does this. It challenges your mind. That is why most of us prefer prose. Prose is sensible. Prose can be understood and well , you feel in control. But I will let you in on a secret! 

Think of POETRY as PROSE with a difference. It is a fill-in-the-blanks prose. And the answers to the blanks/gaps in understanding? Well. they are within you. But to get these answers the mind has to temporarily shut down and the heart has to wake up! How? Next post, I promise! The topic will be: How does the heart awaken?
Meanwhile this is how you could read a poem if you are not a poetry enthusiast.

Look at a poem in front of you and try this: RELAX. Don't try to understand it. Slowly read the words. Let the words speak to you instead of you imposing a meaning with your mind. If you get stuck at  a word, let go and dream a bit. A meaning or a synonym will pop out from somewhere. Write it down. continue reading. Do this whenever you get stuck. When you release the tension of trying to understand, you will understand !!

Slowly, and I guarantee this to you, suddenly you will UNDERSTAND and you will feel a thrill. "Oh so this what he/she  meant." Well, partly correct. The poet might have meant that in the poem. But what you understand out of it is what is important  to you! Your meaning is created by your life and your experiences. Yet, a poem has a universal quality. Life and emotions are universal, they just wear different costumes. The great poems are the ones that evoke the maximum responses down the ages. That is why a Wordsworth and a Tagore are immortal! How GITANJALI could strike a chord with W.B. Yeats.

So, a poem is a shared experience and when you read it, you are sharing the experience with the poet. Also, as you read, you interpret; so you are expanding the meaning of the poem by reading it. Isn't that a wonderful thought ?

This is one exercise that creates an inner space within us. Poetry does open the heart, it puts us in touch with our emotions and helps them to flow. True ART is born in the HEART of the artist (poet) and it wakes up the HEART of the one experiencing/reading it.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THIS HELPED YOU TO LOOK AT POETRY IN A DIFFERENT WAY!

1. CREATIVITY: Expression of the Emerging Self

CREATIVITY is the soul trying to make its presence felt in the humdrum of daily living. It is the whisper of the Eternal within us asking us to pay attention, to LIVE and not merely exist. It is the "inner child" seeking permission to emerge out of the dark wilderness of our subconscious. 

We are born with many soul yearnings. We come as messengers from other realms filled with the wonder and joy of living, until we are seduced by the worldliness of the world and we lose our innocence.

Creativity is the soul's message that all is not lost. Innocence can be retrieved and poured into life, with the added benefit of experience. 

In this section, I want to share with you, moments and insights from my creative journey, a journey that can be undertaken by anyone. I believe that every human being has a creative core, waiting to be expressed in myriad ways. YES. The million dollar question is: HOW ? Where do we begin? What are the tools?

Please wait for my next post, fellow travellers on the creative journey! One clue: It all begins from the