Recovering your creativity: The Artist’s Way

Creativity is an energy. It’s intangible, and like any form of energy, it can’t be created or destroyed but displaced or converted from one form to another. I like to equate it with thoughts. We don’t know why or exactly how we form thoughts, but we accept having them without really questioning where they come from. I encourage you to adopt the same line of thinking when it comes to creativity.

Creativity is like a hidden well

Imagine you’re walking through an unmarked field of coarse, yellow grass in the countryside. Your legs feel heavy and sluggish—each step is labored and triggers a sharp pang in your lungs. And the sun is at its peak, beating down on your skin, lightly stinging your face as full droplets of sweat trickle down your temples.

When you swallow, your throat feels cracked and pained. You’re looking for water.

In the distance, you see the contours of thick, rough stones of varying shapes and sizes. They form what appears to be an old well protruding from the earth. From where you’re standing, the structure doesn’t look promising. It’s covered with a dark, corroding wood that’s roughly textured and overgrown with different species of moss and shrubs and fungi.

As you get closer to the well, you hear faint, intermittent trickles of water. You rush towards the well—it takes the remaining bits of your strength to remove the wood covering, and you splinter your hands, but once you remove it, you find perfectly clear, turquoise water. You can’t tell from the surface, but the well is thousands of miles deep and courses throughout the earth.

When you drink from the well, at first greedily and then with moderation, you feel infinitely satiated and lively. Your surroundings change from shades of the same bleak, thirst-infused yellows to sky blues and vibrant pinks and whites.

Think of creativity as this well. Everyone has access to it, but you must intentionally seek it out and work to obtain it. Once you do, it quenches your thirst and fulfills you. The well never dries up. The water is always there; it’s just hidden or covered up at times.

How we displace our creativity

Much like the hidden well, our creativity often gets obscured by the demands of daily life. Creativity tends to get lost as we grow older and get conditioned into society—when we what other people tell us to do instead of what we truly want. We lose sight of the satiating well when we let others rule our lives:

“Many of us find that we have squandered our own creative energies by investing disproportionately in the lives, hopes, dreams, and plans of others. Their lives have obscured and detoured our own.” – The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron

This often happens unintentionally and unthinkingly when we follow the socially prescribed path—typically going off into the corporate world where we spend the weekdays working on highly unexciting and unimpactful tasks and the weekends recovering.

Our attention and energy shift to furthering someone else’s goals. Over time, we forget about what is truly meaningful to us, drives us, and makes us happy. Living this way is deeply unfulfilling.

Creating is innately fulfilling

Our natural state is to create. It’s something that we, as humans, are distinctly equipped and optimized to do because we can reason. And we should seek creativity because it’s inherently rewarding. Creating involves making something that only you can make. It’s an exercise of autonomy because it allows you to assert your ability to shape and give form to your unique ideas. It also provides an outlet for your thoughts and emotions.

And this includes all forms of creation—art, music, writing, fitness, business, cooking, gardening, and yes, even people (think of the many times you’ve heard others (or perhaps yourself) say their lives became more meaningful after having children).

Reclaiming your creativity requires withdrawal

There are many tactics for tapping into your creativity—the first and most important is getting rid of your inner critic. You can do this through things like writing out your immediate thoughts each morning (especially the negative ones telling you what you can’t do and that you’re no good). This frees your mind to focus on more positive and creative ideas.

Trying new activities and experiences, reading each day, breaking your routine, and consistently spending time on activities you’re naturally interested in and enjoy all help restore your creativity. And as you spend time on these types of activities, you shift the focus of your daily life to benefit yourself instead of others. This is a sort of withdrawal:

“As we consolidate a core through our withdrawal process, we become more able to articulate our own boundaries, dreams, and authentic goals. Our personal flexibility increases while our malleability to the whims of others decreases. We experience a heightened sense of autonomy and possibility.” – The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron

Find that well!

Creativity is like a hidden well. It’s always there for you and is waiting to be uncovered. Reclaiming your creativity allows you to quench your thirst and brings more vibrant colors to your life. By doing so, you start cultivating a more personally meaningful life.