Spirituality and Creativity

Spirituality has at least as many meanings as there are people to define it. Because we are unique, each one of us has his or her own way of being spiritual. However, there is at least one thing basic to spirituality that is worth naming: Spirituality involves creative and imaginative ways of living our everyday lives.

One's spirituality may be practiced in connection with a community or it may be done in solitude; it may be informed by religion or not; it may involve intentional and routine practices or it may be sporadic. But certainly, one vital aspect of any spiritual way of life is creativity.

This is true when we are religious and routine, because without creativity and imagination our spiritual practices can quickly become empty rituals. To be genuinely spiritual, our ways and our thoughts must constantly be refreshed by a creative awareness of our symbols of meaning, whatever they may be.

This is also true when we are spontaneous and unstructured. Even though one's spirituality may seem to arise naturally from daily life, the kind of acts invloved in personal reflection and tuning in to our sources of inspiration must be done with creative intention. In fact, for most people some amount of creativity is needed just to make the time in our busy schedules for the things that refresh and re-orient us, such as hiking or knitting.

If, by exercising spirituality, we are attempting to be conscious of important things in life, then exercising creativity and the imagination is an integral part of that effort. Otherwise, we remain perpetually busy and frantic or are simply droned by our routine into a deep, deep, deep sleep, only to be awakened on occasion by the nurse who brings our pills. Creative efforts, whatever form they may take, open us up in a natural way to the possibility of spiritual vivacity.

Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, is a good resource for anyone aspiring to a creative and spiritual way of life. She suggests making time and space for creativity by establishing practices, such as beginning each day with a few pages of stream-of-consciousness writing and setting weekly dates with yourself alone to do something that you love to do. Her book is primarily for artists, but she says that her practices are useful for anyone who is hoping to live more creatively, whether or not artistic expression is the ultimate goal.

But perhaps some kind of creative expression is at least a part of the ultimate goal for those of us who are interested in community. Not that we should all be artists, but finding fresh ways to express ourselves and to tell our own stories is a good way for us to connect with one other.

Spirituality involves creative and imaginative ways of living everyday life; and it involves creative and imaginative ways of telling our stories. Let us encourage in each other the constant recovery of our creativity as a palliative to the adverse effects of busy lives and our routined ways of being in the world.