The TEN TENETS of LIVING a CREATIVE LIFE

An Mighty.Beautiful belief system for the creative soul

By Mighty.Beautiful

1. Creativity is the muscle that connects your hands and body to your soul. It must be exercised. Much like a person’s physical wellness, a person’s creative wellness is central to overall health and well-being. Creativity is the muscle that connects your hands to your soul. It is the force within you that guides you forward in doing what you are meant to do. If this energy and force isn’t exercised regularly, it can be detrimental to health and well-being.

2. Art saves lives. It is as fundamental and as essential to human existence as air and water. It is not an “extracurricular”. Creativity must be prioritized in our lives. Refusing to allot time for creativity and creative pursuits results in stress, depression, burnout, lower productivity, drug abuse and other personal and cultural illnesses.

3. The creative process itself has intrinsic value, regardless of the outcome. The creative process allows us to focus on positive thoughts and mindfulness, explore difficult events and feelings through the use of fiction and mixed media, solve problems according to available resources, and develop strategies for regularly learning new skills, among other benefits.

4. We are all entitled to our creative selves. Every single person has their own creative power. We are all creative beings. All internal negative voices are opportunities to turn self-criticism into self-love. Allow yourself to be a beginner to grow into the person you are meant to become.

5. Creativity connects us with the Universe, our Creator and Each Other. Everything in the universe does two things: It creates and it dies. It works to reproduce parts of itself and then it becomes something else. We are all part of the creative process of the Universe itself. We are what happens in the long chain of events from the Big Bang to this incredible moment right now. By connecting with our own creative process and allowing it to flow, we are discovering the power of both the creator and the created. We are able to explore our internal, individual spirituality as well as our external, collective universe.

6. Flow state can be achieved at will through practice. Like so much design in nature, creativity is a skill that develops through repeated patterns, rituals, innovations and evolutions. Learning and developing your own creative algorithm will allow you to enter creative flow state at-will.

7. Set no limits. Mix your media. Explore. Experiment. Fail a million times. Never tell yourself what you cannot do; there is nothing that cannot be done within the limitlessness of our creativity. Only tell yourself what you can do, and what you can do next.

8. Choose subjects that are meaningful to you. Focus on your passions. Learn to make a whale a thousand different ways. Art is a way of communicating our observations and experiences of the universe. Make it meaningful.

9. Anything can be repurposed. Create to make, not waste. Everything has value. We must work and work together to manage resources, respect nature and save the planet. Art and nature go hand-in-hand.

10. Creativity is resiliency. Adopting these principals will create tools for living a happier, healthier and more meaningful life.