The first glimpse of the creative process is the yearning: the desire to create. We bath in the yearning, feel that yearning deep inside, and express that yearning in every move we make. Every move then becomes the catalyst for our yearning to grow. We know it wants to flourish and express itself, because we feel it. There is a tangible, physical push.
For instance, we may long to play the piano. We don’t even know if we have a talent for it, but every day we sit and practice. We study the scales, and we learn the notes. Day after day, we practice. We are immersed in the practice. So much so, that even our repetitive actions express the longing, and gives us the experience of our desire. One baby step at a time, we continue our practice.
The creative process unfolds in many dimensions. Emotions, realizations, and insights come up. We ride them, surf them, feel them fully. At the same time, our practice becomes an exploration. We follow our thoughts, feelings, and impulses where they lead us. In the same way that the scientist follows where the data takes him, in the same way the White Rabbit scurries down the rabbit hole, it is that exploring, that open-ended quality, that moves us into a deeper space.
And then we begin to shape it.
We shape it by dancing with it, swimming with it, by seeing where the current takes us. We learn to feel the moment, trust the throb of the impulse––without judgment or manipulation. The more sensitive we become to the “flavor” of each impulse, the more we can differentiate one impulse from another. Becoming one with the object of our awareness, we open to the point of being vulnerable, and then, we let go, and become the witness to the shape, the creation itself.
