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The awareness of the creative
spirit as an entity that can exist apart from our mind, as
we currently understand mind, and our ego arose, surprisingly,
out of trying to improve safety in the workplace.
The original incentive to explore the nature of creativity arose
because individuals within the work place did not seem to be free to
explore the depth and breadth of the problem they face to find a
solution that effectively addressed the root of their problem. That
exploration,
discussed elsewhere, lead the realizations of the existence of a
creative spirit within each of us. Yet, the full meaning of the
creative spirit and it impact in our lives and on our creativity was
not immediately obvious. Only when the creative spirit emerged and
was recaptured much the way Persephone was captured and carried off
into the underworld in Greek Mythology did the author begin to
question exactly what had happened and why. As the author began to
realized exactly what the creative spirit was, he began to
understand why we created may of the types and kinds of experience
we have.
The occasion
The occasion to create Our
Creative Spirit was the realization of the need to capture the
observations made over time about the creative spirit. Although
there was much written on the subject of the spirit and soul as they
relate to spirituality and religion, little was found on the subject
of the creative spirit. The available literature found on the spirit
and soul and the subject of creativity did not seem to effectively
integrate them. For all practical purposes the creative spirit was
appearing as a completely different concept than either spirituality
or creativity effective addressed. As such, the author found it
appropriate to document the observations he had made in his
exploration of creativity on the subject of the creative spirit.
The origins
When the author was about twenty
one he was involved with a spiritual tradition that would create a
safe space for what people saw as an individual’s spirit to come out
and freely express itself within the context of the tradition in a
way not previously seen or experienced by an individual. That is,
the tradition created an experience for the individual to get in
touch with a part of themselves they had not previously experienced
and have an experience of it in the safety provided by the tradition
and what the tradition understood about the spirit.
At the time, the author did not understand what that tradition was
really doing. Nor did he understand what the tradition was doing
with the creative spirit that was released. The author did not
understand how the tradition was harnessing the creative spirit that
was released. The author accepted the tradition and never questions
its motives and what it was really trying to create. In hindsight
the author could see all that tradition was doing with give the
space for the what is seen as the spiritual aspects of the creative
spirit to come out and express itself within the bounds of the
tradition. In time, the author was to come to find there was a
tremendous amount more to this creative spirit than what people
called and saw a spirit and/or spiritual.
Within the that tradition, the author was very good at creating such
a space and routinely released the creative spirit of such
individuals. In fact, he was quite good at it. Yet he saw something
that puzzled him. He saw how over a short period of time how the
released creative spirit would become captured again. That playful
spirit would again become bound. At the time it didn’t bother him.
he assume it was just part of the process and that is the way things
were. People’s lives where shifted, they felt better about
themselves, so what was the problem with this creative spirit being
recaptured by the tradition?
Within a short time however, there were people who started to come
up to the author and say he was a healer. They said that what he did
for them healed them. That really started to bother the author. He
was not trouble by the fact that they claimed he was a healer. For
some reason he accepted that without question. His feelings were
more reflective of “I am not going to take on the medical profession
and this spiritual tradition of which I am involved” So he walked
away from it all never expecting to return to it again.
In 1987 he was hired by the Department of Energy (DOE) based on his
diverse background and organization insights as part of the DOE
response to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report on its
nuclear facilities. This report concluded the Department was not
technically competent to oversee its contractors.
He was hired specifically by the Deputy Assistance Secretary for
Safety to address the management structure and organizational issues
of DOE and its Contractors to (1) improve technical performance of
both the DOE and its contractors and (2) improve the DOE ability to
oversee its contractors. In an attempt to address the concern of the
NAS, the author changed career position in DOE over a period of the
next ten years. At the time he was unaware how the changes were
laying the foundation for understanding the full impacts of the
creative spirit.
In essence the difficultly described in the report arose not because
the problem was insolvable. Rather the difficulty arose as a result
of the lack of an organizational single point focus for any effort.
Rather, a short term, “quick fix” mentality permeated the Department
and the continual changes in Department priorities as each Secretary
of Energy, or their primary appointees, changed. Few realized the
depth and breadth of the problem that existed. Few had the ability
to remain focus and not be distracted for as long as was necessary.
Yet is was this experience that helped give rise to the information
discussed on this and related web sites, and in particular "Organizational
Creativity" and, surprisingly, “Meditation
Concepts and Principles for Creativity.”
Creating effective and adequate correction action caused the author
to move through four organizational components. Each move addressing
a different aspect of the root issue. The first organization stop
was to identify exactly what it was that caused the NAS to conclude
the DOE was not technically competent. By all existing Department
standards, qualified personnel and individuals with adequate
credentials were hired by DOE and its contractors. Yet an aspect of
technical competency was missing. Finding the problem was best
accomplished from the safety oversight and policy development
organization. Once identified, standards and requirements were
changed to correct deficiencies. However, it was necessary to
educate the staff on the problem and how to fix the problem. If they
truly understood the problem in the first place, the problem in
question would never have existed. Changing standards and
requirements without providing a cultural change which understood
what needed to be done would not provide adequate corrective action.
The necessary cultural change was best accomplished through the
training organization and developing the experiential training to go
with the new requirements. Then it became necessary to become part
of the line organization to implement the necessary changes and to
“lead the way.” Finally the author moved to coaching the
organization on maintaining the fixes.
This journey through the organization began to reveal something
else. It revealed two things. One was it revealed the steps that
would be necessary to release and protect the creative spirit within
an individual. The other was it laid the foundation for
understanding the creative spirit as it relates to our normal and
every day life.
Although effective correction actions were implemented, the
tradition management methods were still lacking at resolving the
basic issues. Something was still missing. The solution was given to
those who needed it but the individuals could not seem to find the
solution themselves. Without the ability to find the solution and
modify them as the situation changes themselves, a long term
solution would not be sustainable. Another, or others, seemed to be
almost always needed to point out what was lacking. Quite simply,
the organization lacked the ability to create the ability it needed
to find a solution. It lack the ability to be organizationally
creative to be able to respond to the changing demands being placed
on it. What become clear was that NAS report was only a snapshot
in time. Everyone assumed the snapshot was accurate over time. So we
fixed what the snapshot revealed in the moment but we were not
addressing what the snapshot revealed over time. We did not address
why the snapshot existed as it did.
As a manager, the issue the author ultimately came to face was how
to get individuals to freely play with the situation they face to
find those creative solutions that go to the depth of the situation
and address the root of the issue. It was clear individuals seemed
to lack the creative ability to solve the problem they faced at the
root level. They usually tended to look to someone else to solve
their problem. The author wondered why individuals could not step
out of their current thinking to find alternatives that would work.
He was working with some that the best scientific and engineering
minds in the world. The author initially could not understand how
and why they were unable to be sufficiently creativity to address
the problem as it existed at the root level. They were creative in
so many other ways. Why was their creativity blinded?
In response, the author began to explore what was known about
creativity and how to become creative. Although he listened to what
the experts said and read what they wrote it, was a synchronicity
which occurred outside the workplace that allowed him to look deeply
into the creative desire of another and from were our creativity
arose. That experience was the key to understanding creativity, the
creative spirit, and the issues the author faced in the workplace.
Twenty three years later, the author again created the space for
someone and their creative spirit came out just as he had seen years
earlier. This time the situation had nothing to do with any
spiritual tradition or spirituality. He was not acting under any
tradition. He simply set the intention to find a way to free an
individual from what he saw holding their creative spirit captive.
It was solely a playful creative desire to free a bound spirit. The
individuals’ creative spirit came out and it was a magnificence to
behold.
The occasion arose when the author was asked to help the individual
create something that seemed to be irrationally motivated given the
circumstances that currently existed in their life. If asked, they
could not really explain why they wanted to created it. They were
just drawn to do so and needed to do it. The author looked at why
they were having difficulty and looked to see what needed to be done
and did it. It was then he came face to face with what could only be
described as their creative spirit. He call it a spirit for he had
other experiences in life years earlier that allowed him to
recognize what seemed to be entities that existed apart from,
separate from, or different than, one’s normal self. It was like an
entirely different person. Yet it was not a separate entity. It was
only a part of this individual that was so unexpressed and
suppressed that, when expressed, it appeared foreign and separate
from them and had the potential to completely and radically
transform their life.
When the author looked deeply at what was motivating the individual
he came to see what this creative spirit wanted to create. What this
creative spirit wanted was so different than what the individual’s
life was giving the individual and what their mind thought needed to
be done in their life. It was so different that you could say the
author was faced with a completely different entity.
But then this creative spirit also got recaptured as he seen years
earlier. The only difference was its recapture was much more
dramatic. That again puzzled the author. But this time he questioned
why. What struck him was he seemed to be witnessing the Greek myth
of Persephone being played out before his eyes.
It was a result of this experience that the author began to realize
from where many of the problems he was encountering in the workplace
came. This creative desire within each individual can only be called
a spirit and it will create. This creative spirit has a passion to
express itself and we can feel its passion. If it is not allowed to
create consciously it will do so subconsciously. It will find a way
to challenge its own creativity to create. In essences it looks for
a way to challenge itself and if not done consciously it will do so
subconsciously.
This creative spirit comes with a
wisdom about life and creating life. It does not act to harm
another or itself. Its withdrawal for whatever reason takes live
away from an individual. Its withdrawal causes one to be prone to
become less aware and open to both
accident and/or illness.
The author began to realize he was looking in the wrong direction to
solve the health and safety issues in the workplace. He came to
understand many of the technical issues that surfaced had nothing to
do with the technology. The health and safety issue were not
necessarily a result of the technology. Rather they ultimately arose
from this creative spirit and how it was, or was not, being
protected. Many of the issues that arose ultimately stemmed from the
individuals acting to protect the creative spirit based on
protective response patterns developed in the past, if not early in
childhood, but now were ultimately hazardous and/or harmful to
themselves or another.
One could logically, and in often a very straight forward manner, do
what needed to be done to address the technology. The issue was the
creative spirit within key individuals was not being consciously
expressed or rather, suppressed. What was being done did not lead to
either an internal or external safety for there was a lack of
understanding as to what was really motivating one’s actions.
Exactly how one’s subconscious actions to protect this playful
creative spirit gets translated into unsafe workplace practices that
can threaten the public and environment is explainable. However,
that explanation requires more discussion that is warranted here.
Hopefully the material on this and related web sites will provide
the informant to help you to begin to see how this creative spirit
works to create unsafe conditions for itself and others.
The author began to see how this creative spirit was finding a way
subconsciously to express itself to challenge itself and in doing
so, it was creating hazards for others. Rather than looking within
to explore the creative spirit, new requirements, rules and
regulations would be imposed from the outside which further stifled
the creative spirit. That, in turn, set one up for a different
problem to surface since the root issue was not being fixed. The
answer was not to impose new requirements but to create awareness.
The author was forced to change his entire understanding as to how
he thought the world worked. He had to face an aspect within our
being that we don’t even recognize as existing let alone know how to
properly use. He came to understand there was what only could be
called a childlike spirit that needed to be protected. If improperly
protected, those actions would create unsafe conditions for the
individual and others.
In looking at awareness, something else arose. When an individual
learned to become aware of hazards in the work place and how to
protect the creative spirit as opposed to simply complying with
imposed requirements they would make the workplace and their work
practices safer for they learn to foresee problems. But more
importantly, there is an awareness that arises within about what
gives life and makes it safe for this creative spirit to unfold that
transcends any one environment. This childlike creative spirit
possessed a life giving wisdom.
As the individuals related to this creative spirit, they would begin
to see hazards in other places in their lives such as at home and in
their recreational activities. Their whole life would become safer.
They would begin to transform their life simply by looking to
protect their creative spirit in a way that served that spirit. In
essence, when one focused on the creative spirit and what was needed
to hold their creativity sacred one would develop mindfulness and
awareness. They will being to see differently and they could begin
to see what gave rise to what they were experiencing and creating.
In time, they could begin to see any other individual had a similar
desire and creative spirit within their being and it too needed to
be protected, supported and nurtured. They would being to act in a
way that made it safe for both their own creative spirit and the
creative spirit of the other to unfold. In doing so, they made their
world and the world of others safer. That is where the real safety
lies. It is when an environment is created based on this life giving
wisdom where it was safe for the creative spirit within oneself and
the other to both freely unfold true to their nature that one
creates health, safety, and quality in whatever the individual does.
Thirty-three years after the author first became aware that he could
create the space for the creative spirit to come out, he now
understood how and why it gets recaptured. He also came to
understand how that creative spirit affects every facet of our life
whether it be our personal life or our work life.
The author came to see that part of what captured the creative
spirit was the world in which we live. The author knew he could
create the space for the creative spirit to be safe to come out and
not become recaptured by the external world. However, part of what
captures the creative lies withing the individual. It is a
cage of our own making. Unless we each learn how to manage that
creative spirit and become intimate with it, its needs, its wants
and its desires, it will become recaptured. Not because of the
external world thwarts its free expression. Rather, it is captive by
our internal world created in this and in what some call our past
lives. Our creative spirit was not free to express itself even in
our own creative imagination. Our past is underworld we need to
face. We need to enter it and explore it.. If we do not face we will
never allow our creative spirit to be released and we never will
access the true depth and breadth of our creative spirit.
Creating the space for the creative spirit to come out is the easy
part. Creating the space for it to stay out in the external world is
actually also relatively easy. The hard part is keeping it out and
not allowing it to become recaptured by our own internal world. That
is the issue. How do we keep the inner flame burning bright enough
to both light the way through the forest within our own being and
last long enough for the entire journey until we become free of the
past. It is this passion to create that will not allow that spirit
to be recaptured. The question for each of us is, “What passion can
be instilled within us for that light to glow brightly such that we
will not be stopped by anything to release the playful creative
spirit?”.
Yet this passion is unique to each of us and buried within the dark
underworld of our own being. It is a treasure that must be sought.
In going into the underworld all we can do is feel our way to it.
There is no light to light the path. There will be flashed of
insight much like lightening flashing at night allows us to see a
glimmer of the path and to see the direction of travel. But there is
no light for the path. There is no path our mind can follow. There
is no map. Even if we had a map it is dark and it could not be read.
It is dark it is the underworld. We have to feel our way to our own
passion and what will guide us out of the darkness. All we can do is
stand at the opening and continue to call, again and again until it
comes out. That voice then becomes a marker to help create the
freedom we need for the free expression of our creative spirit.
There are three parts to the process of calling out the creative
spirit. One is the
rainmaker. They bring life to the individual. They call forth
the creative spirit and awaken it. It is much the way the life
giving waters found in rain bring life to a parched landscape. In
awakening the creative spirit they bring one to the awareness of its
existence. But then that creative spirit must be birthed There is a
journey and a passage that must be traversed much like the birth
canal. It is the dark inner world of one’s own subconscious. A
midwife is needed to help guide the process and look for the
obstructions that may be in the way. As a minimum they stand at the
door way calling it forth. There may even been need of intervention
if the creative spirit gets stuck and if one is going to keep the
creative spirit alive. Then the creative spirit must come out into
the world and learn to stand on its own two feet and grow in its own
awareness. A
nanny is needed to care for the creative spirit and provide that
feminine nurture creative energy to hold it when it is wounded
and give it a safe space to cry so that it can process its pain and
heal its wounds.
All that the author has done has been to find a way to make it safe
for the creative spirit to come out and stay out. The author has
come to understand we cannot assume because someone says they “got
it” their creative spirit will remain out. That creative spirit must
be fed, nurtured and cared for. It is most vulnerable when it just
comes outs. If it become frightened, it just makes it that much
harder the next time. The
Our Creative Spirit web site was written to capture and share
these insights. The hope is yo may benefit from the lessons learned
to create a safe space for both your creative spirit and the
creative spirit of those in your life to be free to come out and to
freely express itself in the world. The
Fifteen Creative Steps/Guidelines have been developed to help
you in this process.
Related topics
Understanding from where a creation ultimately comes
Pieces of the puzzle
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