Creativity

Creativity and spirituality are deeply interlinked. If we can lose ourselves in a creative project, get into the flow, we free ourselves from the illusion of separation.

Many spiritual leaders say that creativity is important for happiness, feeling whole and fulfilling our potential as humans. 'You become more divine as you become more creative,' said Osho. 'All the religions of the world have said God is the creator. I don’t know whether he is the creator or not, but one thing I know: the more creative you become, the more godly you become.'

The seminal book for getting in touch with our creativity and freeing ourselves from the harsh self judgement that often comes when we try to be creative, is Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way (now available as an online course as well as a book). 'No matter what your age or your life path, whether making art is your career or your hobby or your dream, it is not too late or too egotistical or too selfish or too silly to work on your creativity,' she says.

Creativity doesn’t have to mean making music, art or dance (but of course it is all those things). It can be how you approach life: with joy, playfulness and belief in enacting your own ideas into the world. In another recommended book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert describes creativity as 'The relationship between a human being and the mysteries of inspiration.'

Art is also a powerful way to bring humanity together in understanding. 'What art does is to coax us away from the mechanical and towards the miraculous,' says writer Jeanette Winterson. 'The so-called uselessness of art is a clue to its transforming power. Art is not part of the machine. Art asks us to think differently, see differently, hear differently, and ultimately to act differently, which is why art has moral force … Art makes us better people because it asks for our full humanity, and humanity is, or should be, the polar opposite of the merely mechanical. We are not part of the machine either, but we have forgotten that. Art is memory.'

Resources to support you on your creative path

Art and healing - online resources looking at the healing effect of art.

Art and sacred places - they commission exciting and innovative work from contemporary artists for sacred places.

Axis web - an independent charity supporting artists.

London Arts in Health Forum - they develops the role of culture in wellbeing and to promote and support arts in health activity across London and nationally.

Nordoff Robbins - a charity that uses music therapy to change the lives of vulnerable and isolated people across the UK.

Music Mind Spirit - a retreat for musicians in the Sussex countryside.

Sistema Scotland - an orchestra for deprived children in Scotland. Joining the Big Noise orchestra nurtures confidence, discipline, teamwork, pride and aspiration.

Survivors Art Foundation - a non-profit organisation committed to empowering trauma survivors with access to artist expression.

Voluntary arts - this organisation supports and promotes creative expression for everyone in the UK and Ireland.

West-East Divan Orchestra - an orchestra for Israeli, Palestinian and other Arab musicians.

Books

The 7 Secrets of Sound Healing by Jonathan Goldman

Art and Artist: Creative Urge and Personality Development by Charles Francis Atkinson and Otto Rank

Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland

Art as Medicine: Creating a Therapy of the Imagination by Shaun McNiff

Art Heals: How Creativity Cures the Soul by Shaun McNiff

Art Therapy Kit: Multimedia Exercises for Creative Self-Expression by Marsha Hardaway

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp

Creative Healing: How to Heal Yourself by Tapping Your Hidden Creativity by Michael Samuels, Mary R. Lane, Mary Rockwood Lane

Creativity and Spirituality: Bonds Between Art and Religion by Earle Jerome Coleman

Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet by Matthew Fox

Divine Madness: Ten Stories of Creative Struggle by Jeffrey A. Kottler

Healing the Inner City Child: Creative Arts Therapies with At-risk Youth by Vanessa A. Camilleri

Music and the Mind by Anthony Storr

The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

Sculpting the Heart: Surviving Depression with Art Therapy by Joyce White

Spirituality and Art Therapy: Living the Connection by Mimi Farrelly-Hansen

Trust the Process: An Artist's Guide to Letting Go by Shaun McNiff

The View from the Studio Door by David Bayles and Ted Orland

When Words Have Lost Their Meaning: Alzheimer's Patients Communicate Through Art by Ruth Abraham

Windows into the Soul – Art as Spiritual Expression by Michael Sullivan

The Wisdom of the Heart by Henry Miller

Writing Through the Darkness: Easing Depression with Paper and Pen by Elizabeth Maynard Schaefer

Quotes