Monday's post was about creating things in the world—bringing something tangible (or audible, or philosophical) into existence. I hope you've taken on this week's tweak and are creating something each day, no matter how small, reveling in your extraordinary ability to birth something from nothing.Today we're going to focus on a subtler aspect of creativity, that of Being.
What is creativity at the level of Being? It’s one thing to be awake to your muse—to be inspired as an artist, a thinker, an engineer, or whatever else you love doing most.
But is there something deeper? Can there be a moral creativity? How about a spiritual creativity? Is there relational creativity? If so, what does it look like, and how do we tap into it?
To focus in: can an earnest conversation between trusting human beings be a kind of spiritual creativity?
My experience says that it can be and is. Let's explore why, and what makes communication such a powerful practice.
The Power of Trust
Trusting someone means letting them in. Your guard drops. You aren't in opposition; you're together.
This doesn't mean you agree on everything. But it does mean that you engage fully with one another, free from pre-conceptions and limiting beliefs about who the other is and who they could become.
An earnest conversation means that neither one of you is vying for the upper hand, but are trying to discover the truth together. To trust that someone's motive is fundamentally unselfish and free of personal ambition is often too much to ask. In fact, it's rare (if not impossible) for someone to be that pure-hearted.
Which is why I say that it's a spiritual practice to engage in authentic dialogue with someone for the sake of discovering the truth together. And things get that much more real when the truth you are trying to discover is not merely abstract philosophy, but has everything to do with taking action in the world, when real consequences are at stake.
So I invite you to bring awareness to your conversations and interactions with people this week. Where are you coming from in yourself? Where is the other person coming from? Can you access the part of yourself that has nothing to gain and nothing to lose, but just wants what's best for everyone? Can you access your spiritual heart even in the midst of a storm of emotions?
Why Meditate
With all this talk about relationships, it's important to come back to the place before all relationships began—the silent Ground of Being we discover in meditation. What is the role of meditation in the creativity of Being? It helps us stay grounded, and return to a place of perfection, no matter how imperfect we may be.
