THE WHEEL OF CREATIVITY®

Today begin the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Every Olympiad I am inspired by the spiritual strength, mental discipline and physical excellence of the Olympic athletes. After all the controversy, when athletes from all over the world make their ceremonial tour of the Olympic stadium, when the flame is lit and the games begin, inspiration starts to flow freely.

Each time, as they make it look so effortless, I feel the longing:  to commit to a sport, work hard at it and produce some extraordinary result with my own body. Perhaps I even get started during the course of the games. But more often than not, by the closing ceremony, I’ve abandoned the dream.

What does it take to go the distance?

Anja Bolbjerg is a two-time Olympic skier (and my personal fitness trainer). So, in honor of today’s big event, I am turning the Wheel of Creativity Q&A around, and asking a few questions of her.

WOC: What does it take to be an Olympic level athlete?

AB: I think that the most important thing is you’ve got to be in love with the process. It’s not just that you want to go to the Olympics one day; you’ve gotta love the project itself.

The passion has got to be there. It’s not as glamorous as people might think. In many sports, it’s a hassle to get the funding and if you don’t have the passion forget it. It can also be a lonely project. If you’re in an individual sport, there’s a lot of stuff you have to do alone. You have to be comfortable on your own.

It’s never a straight line. There are always going to be obstacles, setbacks; and you have to go beyond that. Even if you have a setback, you’ve got to learn to love all the little steps of progress along the way.

WOC: What kind of structure do you put in place to help you?

AB: It depends on the sport, but you have to be able to ask for help. In some sports, everything’s set up for you; but in others, you have to be able to pick the people you want to work with, and put together a team to support you. For the rest of the preparation to be effective, it’s really important to have a good team around you.

WOC: How do you use scheduling to keep yourself on track?

AB: You have the vision of the Olympics guiding you of course; and then you have a weekly schedule, and you try to stick to it. As in life in general, things don’t always go as planned, so you have to revise your plan. But you have a pretty set schedule; you’re not just improvising to get to the Olympics.

WOC: What role does a coach play in the process?

AB: The coach is the person who pushes you when you need pushing and holds you back when you need holding back. They hold the view from a distance, which can be really hard. The coach doesn’t get caught up in the little things but steps back to see the big picture. She stirs up the feelings that you want to stir up and calms down the feelings you want to calm down. It’s a really important role for balance and for confidence.

WOC: How do you approach rewards or breaks?

AB: I think that’s the role of the coach too. It can be really hard as an athlete to give yourself those breaks. Of course there are athletes who need to be coached to do more and break less; but in general, if you really burn for your project you always want to do a little more. You’ve got to have that view from a distance to help you take time out when needed.

WOC:  If there is one most important thing, what would it be?

AB: Really the most important thing is that you realize that this is not just about the Olympics; it’s about the whole process, years and years and years of preparation. If the only thing you want to do is go to the Olympics, it’s not worth it. There are too many sacrifices. But if you’re doing what you love, you don’t see the sacrifices as sacrifices.

Your Own Olympic Torch

The early Olympic Games expressed the highest values of ancient Greece – physical fitness and mental discipline. The first recorded Games in 776 BC had only one event – a 192-meter race – won by a humble baker from Elis named Coroebus. But they were such a peaceful influence that city-states such as Sparta put battles on pause for them. Still today, they stand as a symbol that even the lowliest among us can pursue their personal best, achieve excellence and create a peaceful influence on the world.

Though I imagine the majority of you reading this post are not competing this year in London, each of you has a dream. Olympic or not, each of you carries a torch for your life. You are inspired, you are called, you are committed. So how do you apply the inspiration of today’s Olympic Games in your daily life?

Anja’s Secrets of Success

1. Choose something you love to do.
2. Create a structure for making progress.
3. Hire a coach to support you.
4. Schedule breaks and enjoy them.
5. Value the journey as much as the destination.

In other words, live your own life as well as you can. In Anja’s beautiful words:

“It’s a privilege to be working with yourself. You get to know yourself like not many people have a chance to do – what blocks you, how can you change those patterns, and how can you get to be the best you can be. And that’s something you can use that for the rest of your life.”

Wherever you seek personal excellence in your life, make a plan to make it happen. If you think I might I help, just ask me.

Live CREATIVE!

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I saw my dear friend Penny come up on Skype last night. I haven’t talked with her in a while, so I jotted a few words down; as soon as I had hit Return, she called. Her 39-year old single daughter is undergoing treatment for breast cancer right now. She’s had a mastectomy, and is about to finish a round of chemo that has cost her her hair, made her very sick, and seems linked to other problems still not explained.

Another long time friend, a year older than me, also has breast cancer. She too had a mastectomy and underwent treatment, but the cancer has now spread to the bone in two places. I’ve put her in touch with the Oasis of Hope, the holistic Tijuana cancer clinic where I accompanied my mother 20 years ago.

I have two friends now who are losing their vision, one 67 and the other 75. They both have the “wet” kind of macular degeneration, which creates holes in your vision and currently is untreatable. The younger one can no longer drive; the elder reads with one eye.

Life is Optimistic

On the same call, Penny told me her partner’s son has a new daughter; and Penny lit up when she spoke of the miracle of this child. Ten perfect tiny fingers, ten toes, a beautiful face and head. Life’s ultimate expression of optimism. Talking with Penny is always balm for my soul.

When I hear these stories, and there are many more to go with them, I think of how courageous it is to be human. We all have our struggles; they come without warning. How we respond to them is our inalienable right and our responsibility.

Each of us who (I believe) chooses to come here to Earth confronts a unique set of circumstances we call problems; no escaping them. If we’re fortunate enough to discover that we choose how we respond to them, we can make a good life with them, no matter how difficult they appear. Think of Stephen Hawking. Watch the film, “Life is Beautiful.”

Every Problem, An Opportunity

They say you have to pick your battles. If you want to be prepared when the big ones come along, you have to use the small ones (when things just don’t go the way you want them to) to practice. The problems of life can bind you until you are powerless to move. But every one is an opportunity to build the spiritual muscles with which you create your life.

What struggles are you confronting today? How are you using them transform yourself? How are you using them to create a better life… for yourself and others?

Some challenges are easier than others, and good support can make the difference between being bound and growing stronger. Give yourself that gift today. Whether it’s with a close friend or a professional counselor, coach or mentor.

Live CREATIVE!

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Hi Katherine,

My projects often demand that I work in a very focused way to get the job done. How can I free myself from the focus of one deep activity in order to be present with and respond to what is happening around me in the moment?

Shelley T. (Entrepreneur)

Dear Shelley,

Great question. I think we can all relate to this one, especially when a computer is involved. It’s easy to get so sucked into an activity that we lose our awareness of ourselves and the world around us.

Single-pointed focus

Single-pointed focus is an integral part of creative living. Artists describe an experience of timelessness, when they are swept up in the creative process and the work is just flowing through them. Forgetting to eat or use the toilet are practical examples. And it’s as much a part of business as the arts. But it needs to be balanced.

Freeing yourself to respond

The challenge we face today is that we fail to emerge from the focus back into the spaciousness of our lives, where inspiration and nourishment surround us. Life continually offers us the creative ideas and different points of view we need, but too often we do not look up from our computers to see them. We lose ourselves in the activity.

Focus and spacious presence are both required to be truly effective in the world. Moving between the outer and inner worlds puts us in balance. It is as natural as breathing. But that is a skill that has to be cultivated. Here are a few tips to help:

Four tips to bring space into your work

1. Value the space around you. It is teeming with creative solutions. Every morning, take 10 minutes for quiet contemplation, to remember yourself and your connection with your world. You can use my free Daily Centering Meditation to get started.
2. Set your intentions. What one thing will you commit to for today? At the end of your 10-minute meditation, write down one daily intention for Focus and one for Presence.
3. Contain your focus. Set boundaries that bring you back to Life. Most every cell phone today has a timer on it. Use it to put a timeframe around your work. For example:
   • Every five minutes… look up from your computer at the horizon outside and take a deep breath. Acknowledge your environment.
   • Every hour… stand up, stretch. Drink a glass of water, use the loo. If you can, step outside for a breath of unfiltered air. Connect with your world.
4. Evaluate your results. Stay current and be honest every day. Every evening, take two minutes to think back on your day and jot down your successes and areas you’d like to improve tomorrow.

Life is that wonderful arena in which we get to express our inner values in the outside world. We deal with real stuff, and we get to know ourselves through the process. Your circumstances are your path inward. Always. Enjoy the journey!

Live CREATIVE,

Katherine

P.S. Post your questions on the Wheel of Creativity Facebook page, and I’ll answer one here every Friday.

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I am visiting my husband in Dubai. I will go home this week knowing many things I didn’t know I didn’t know when I arrived. The people I’ve met, the customs I’ve observed and the limits I’ve confronted in myself have all revealed that life is as powerful a force in the desert as any of the places I live. If you find yourself struggling to maintain a creative approach to the problems you face today, read on for six principles of creativity from the Dubai Desert:

C-R-E-A-T-E.

1. Conserve resources. With temperatures reaching 47º C (116ºF), water, not oil, is life’s most precious commodity here. The green desert city of Dubai consumes 250 million gallons of water a day, 97% of which is desalinated seawater. On the other hand, a camel (once called the ship of the desert) can live for days without consuming any water at all, replenishing his supply at the next oasis at a rate of 100 liters in 10 minutes. Creativity at a sustainable level requires conscious conservation of that which keeps you going. What are your most precious resources? How sustainable is your supply?
2. Respect diversity. The city of Dubai and surrounding areas are rich with cultural diversity. In my short time here, I’ve met people from Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, India, Sri Lanka, Italy, Argentina, Lebanon, England, the United States, Canada, France, and many more. While I might think I could not don a veil and live my life shrouded as many women do here, I also cannot know how uncomfortable it might be for a Middle Eastern woman to bare her arms and legs as I do. Diversity is the very essence of Life’s creative force; human beings express it like the rest of Nature. How open are you to diversity? How does it enrich your life and make it more beautiful?
3. Expect the mysterious. To stand in the shadow of a sand dune many times my height is to recognize how much lies hidden beneath life’s visible landscape. To feel a desert wind blow up without warning and change that landscape reminds me how fleeting it all is. While you can prepare for life, you cannot predict its outcomes; and creativity always thrives outside the boundaries of what you know. Where is the mystery in your daily life? How do you make space for it?
4. Adapt to the environment. Under the weight of the noontime sun, the 10-minute walk from my husband’s ship to the shuttle bus is almost more than my fair-skinned body can take. Locals here wear traditional clothing that protects them from the sun’s rays while allowing cooling air to flow freely. City streets are empty during daylight hours, but come alive after dark. These things make sense here; and if I lived here I would adopt them. Creativity is responsive, and takes cues from the locals – humans and animals alike – on how to make conditions work for them. What are does your current environment require of you? What do your neighbors teach you about adapting?
5. Tread lightly. The pace here is slower, for good reason. People move easily through the day and take their time in making decisions. A culture as old as this one knows its roots run deep, the status quo has merit and change takes times. So, for me as a visitor here, the lesson is that the way I have always done things is not necessarily the best way for everyone. Creativity maintains a light and open stance, valuing more than one point of view for any problem. What other points of view might you learn from?
6. Explore the frontiers. While most desert nomads live in houses now due to diminishing resources, the nomadic spirit lives on in people like Dubai-based British adventurer Adrian Hayes. Last year, with camels, supplies and Arabian guides, Hayes made a six-week trek on foot across the Rub Al Khali, the harshest area of the desert in the UAE, a journey originally made in the 1940s by explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger. Creativity is always looking for unanswered questions, unvisited vistas, new frontiers. What frontiers on the edge of your life hold answers you’ve not heard before? How prepared are you to visit them?

I love visiting other cultures. The threads that bind us together as human beings are diverse, and every culture has a myriad of textures and colors within it. Whether you are going to work today or visiting another country, envision it as an adventure.  C-R-E-A-T-E your life wherever you are.

Where are these principles of creativity asking you to venture forth in your life?

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Dear Katherine,

We are sometimes faced with historic and apocalyptic events (fire, flood, tsunami, earthquakes, etc.) produced by Mother Nature, which could devastate sentimental values, financial security, the well being of our families and at the worst, our very survival. While this kind of devastation may not be threatening us at any one time, what would we do if it did? Such events may make us question our spiritual strength, and the values we hold close to our hearts. The intellectual mind might say, “Sell your land or opportunity, give up your family heritage, get out now, it’s too risky to hold steady.” Or, the spiritual mind might say, “Trust… trust in spirit and no matter the outcome all will be well.” How does humanity reconcile this inner conflict in a way to bring peace and rest to the spirit and mind?

(Kathy W., Boulder, Colorado)

Dear Kathy,

Humanity – like all human institutions, families, societies, and countries, etc. – is made up of individuals. For you, having just lived through historic wildfires in Colorado, I can imagine this question is deeply personal. It is also universal, as any of us could have our lives and households threatened as you recently have. Thank you for inviting us to join you in the exploration.

“That which does not kill you makes you stronger.” (Nietzsche)

We are the lucky ones, for whom these experiences – brushes with death or the threat of serious loss – are rare events. This is, I am increasingly aware, a luxury many in the world do not have. For all of us, these events offer the opportunity to rediscover and commit to what we value most.

Whether or not we are undergoing personally what you describe as apocalyptic events, I think most would agree that life today is becoming increasingly intense. Not all times in life allow for rest; some require intense, prolonged effort. Though we might not choose the difficult path, this effort makes us stronger.

“Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel.” (Middle Eastern saying)

For me, being human is being a bridge between heaven and earth. We each make our unique contribution to Life’s evolution by making our values manifest in the physical world. We hold both points of view – the eternal and the finite – within us. A sense of conflict is natural.

As I write this, I am in Dubai. I see the diversity of cultures, religions, value systems. It is not always comfortable, but both mind and spirit must have their share. Each aspect of our humanity needs care, attention and nourishment. Our work is to find our integrity, to re-integrate ourselves through our choices.

In my experience, the solution you seek is not a short-term one. If the muscles of peace and rest are not developed along the way, they will not be there for us when we need them. This is the discipline of the creative process, as represented in Station 11 (Pruning) of the Wheel of Creativity. Coping with tough times is made easier or harder by what we do day in and day out.

“We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)

The Wheel of Creativity describes the human experience as fourfold:  mental, spiritual, physical and emotional. The energy we embody in the world flows differently through our bodies, minds, spirits and hearts. Inner conflicts emerge when we are unaware of or uncommitted to the things we hold most dear, when mind, heart, body and spirit are out of sync. Catastrophic experiences assist us in awakening by revealing to us what we hold most dear, and what we are willing to lose.

In order to reconcile these conflicts, I propose developing two daily habits of self-care, within and without.

1. Feed yourself. Feed and strengthen all aspects of your humanity daily:  your body, your mind, your spirit and your heart. Any neglected area puts you out of balance and makes you vulnerable to overreactions when times get tough.
2. Nurture your connections. Whether it is religion, family, creativity or volunteerism, identify what gives meaning and purpose to your life. Nurture your connections in the good times, and your way will be clearer through difficult times.

Intensity in any form calls us to define ourselves and to sink our roots more deeply into that which grounds us. It is our way of life, practiced on a daily basis, that gives us peace, no matter what kind of circumstances Life brings. Whatever the choices that confront us, all options have consequences; neither is right or wrong. In the end, whether we stay and fight or let go and surrender, Life (in the eternal sense) goes on. And we go on with it.

Live CREATIVE,

Katherine

P.S. Post your questions on the Wheel of Creativity Facebook page, and I’ll answer one here every Friday.

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Hi Katherine,

How can I stay connected to the outer part of the vortex, when I’m in the inner part of despair and isolation?

(Diane L., Events Producer)

Dear Diane,

Thanks very much for this question. If I understand correctly, you are asking how to continue actively creating, even though you may be feeling isolated or despairing along the way.

This is such an important point in the process, and often feels more like the end of the road than a turning point. But the first crucial point is that these periods of despair are part of the creative process too, and even though you may feel anything but… you are still engaged. The journey is still unfolding.

Turning Point or Dead End

Feeling our emotions without getting lost in them is one of creativity’s biggest challenges. Gifted artists throughout history, from Van Gogh to Cobain, have given evidence to this. And Cobain summaries the loneliness of creative authenticity so clearly:

“I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not.”

Because so many artists (in any walk of life) never learn to manage the emotional waters of creativity, we have come to associate the word ‘artist’ with terms like ‘starving’ and ‘crazy’. It’s a tragedy really, because this is just part of the journey to be moved through, like any other.

The Shore of Possibility

In the Wheel of Creativity, despair occurs in Station 5, Isolation. At this point in the creative process, you have left the shore of what you knew (the status quo and the way things have always been), but the new shore of possibility is not yet in view. It’s easy to feel lost here, but you are not lost. It’s common for the crew of voices in your head to mutiny; they need you to take the lead.

The task of Station 5 is to stay vigilant. It’s time to learn to navigate. Even in the wee hours you must keep vigil for the land you seek. Without instruments or maps or previous experience in this unknown place, you must learn to navigate from within, like ancient navigators who made their way around the world with their senses. How did they do it? How can you apply their wisdom today?

Three ancient insights for creative constancy:

1. Stay on course. This is not a time for abandoning ship. You have not come this far to give up. Eliminating that as an option redirects your energies from ambivalence to attention. Recommit to your course for another, reasonable period of time.
2. Stay calm. Self-doubt looms large in this station, as you question your judgment and vision. We all have many voices inside us, which I call the crew, and they need talking to. Some may need soothing while others need a good swift kick in the behind. Recalibrate your strategy and take charge of your inner voices.
3. Stay focused. At times of discouragement, it’s easy to get distracted.  Like the ancient mariners’ mythical sirens, attractive alternatives suddenly come out of nowhere. Reconnect with your inner vision. Reevaluate and reassign your resources (time, money, energy) and how to best use them.

Each stage of the creative process has an emotional component to it. Some stages and some emotions are easier than others. But, whether the challenge is great or small, you have a choice over how you respond. In fact, it is natural at the outside of the Wheel to feel that sensation of spinning and overwhelm; it is returning to the center that calms you, whatever your experience is today. And the stillness is always there, waiting for you in the center, at the axis of the Wheel.

Let me know if this helps, Diane. I’m happy to follow up with you if you saw a different angle. Let me know!

So stay vigilant and…

Live CREATIVE,

Katherine

P.S. Post your questions on the Wheel of Creativity Facebook page, and I’ll answer one here every Friday.

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