THE WHEEL OF CREATIVITY®

There was a lot of talk last night in the “Love the Life you Live” telecourse about reviews and rejection and Grammy speeches. The members of the group dared to share their best and worst case scenarios, most of which I’ve indulged in myself along the way. They are the fears we all have for the creative work that comes from our hearts.

What came through to me so strongly is a feeling we’ve learned alongside math and spelling:

 

“I only want to do this if I can be sure it’s going to work.”

 

“Work” is defined in ways unique to each of us, but always occurs somewhere in the future. And it always seems beyond our control. There is an alternative.

Well trained as consumers from our first digital image, we learn to do what we do…

• because it’s going to make us famous
• because it’s going to make us rich
• because it’s going to make us attractive

…because it’s going to get us something we think we need to be enough.

But creative people learn that there’s an incomparable sense of aliveness only attached to doing what we do…

• because we can
• because it pleases us
• because we love it
• because we must

Internal, External

 

The first of these two points of view is  externally oriented while the second is internally oriented. The first is designed to increase your value in the eyes of others, while the other fulfills you as you are. The first leaves you at the mercy of others, while the second puts your worth into your own hands.

Too often, we want others to find the value in what we do because it means (to us) that they find value in us, especially when it is the work that comes from our hearts.

But each of us must define the value of our work, and we can only define that value for ourselves. As a creator, part of your work is to be clear about why you do it and what it gives you. As a viewer or listener, you also determine whether a work has value for you; that is your own personal response.

• Finding the value for yourself has to come first. Why must you do what you do? What does it give you?

• The value to others is discovered as you put it out there, test it, keep working and refining it.

• Value to society is yet another question, a commercial one.

Why Create?

 

Your experience of success depends on your intention for your work in combination with what others need and want.

• To create only because others will buy your work is to industrialize the process.

• To create only because it’s what you must do is to purify the process.

• To create what you must and then go about the ongoing process of connecting it with others is to find the deepest connecting links between your work in the world and what makes us all human. It’s also to accept that not everyone is going to like it or find the value in it.

But the value is still there, at least to you.

 

If a plant can’t feed us does it not have value?

If a stuffed doggie has no bark, does it not comfort?

If an unknown painter paints, does it not enrich the world?

 

What if you were to do your creative work just because you can? Because you love it? Because you must? And keep doing it until it connects with others who find the value in it. What kind of life would that be?

But what we tend to do when someone may not find our work valuable for them is to connect with them in the negative: “If they don’t find value for them, they don’t find it valuable, which means it has no value for anyone, which means I have no value.” A very deadly chain of sentiments for a creative person.

And how could anyone create under those conditions?

 

Best Case, Worst Case

 

On the other hand, if you start with the inherent value of doing the work because you can, because you must, the value is there already. Then you are free to engage in the creative process that comes after, which is promoting the work.

Many creators, it must be said, are not publicly recognized in their lifetimes. But we live in a world today where our work can spread to millions like wildfire. There are hundreds, if not thousands out there who will find value our work if we are willing to take that journey too.

I think we have to be very honest with ourselves about why we do what we do. We can’t afford to be surprised at the end of the road if we get something different. We have to tell the truth about what we are really seeking and decide if that is really what we want. Only then will our work be rightly aligned with the results we produce.

Even more important, we cannot expect our creative work to fill the voids within us for recognition for respect for someone else to tell us that we have value as human beings. I wonder if this isn’t why fame is so destructive to so many: “You mean, I went through all that, and I still feel this way inside? Damn!”

If the work itself does not fulfill us, we are risking a great deal indeed. We are risking our lives. And we’ve missed the value of the gift we’ve been given for ourselves.

 

And you?

 

I’m taking a poll on The Wheel of Creativity Facebook page. Please take a few seconds to head over there and let me know… How do you define the value of your work? Why do you create?

 

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What are you pulling?

Today I’m going to try something, and I’d love to know your thoughts about it. Today I begin a creative experiment by recording a video journal a few times each week. In each journal, I will invite you into my private world, behind the photos, quotes and status updates I create on the Internet. What’s really going on for me today? What am I pulling?

How can this help you?

For many years of my life, I made my living writing and producing TV/film projects. I still appreciate the candid, in-your-face kind of filmmaking that captures the authentic moments of real life. The more eccentric the people, the more interesting they are to watch.

Well, somehow in the intense process required to write, publish and promote my book, I’ve found myself getting caught up in a lot of should’s lately. I have focused on the things I thought I had to do for people to discover my book and benefit from it. Somehow I lost touch along the way with what I most love doing. And that, as I well know, is a sure-fire way to disappear into the oblivion of my own mind.

I know I’m not alone. So my hope is that my little experiment will help you find your creative process in the midst of your day-to-day life. If we can’t sit down over coffee today, this is the next best thing.

Let me know what you think!

• Leave your comments here below.
• Post your own video response on YouTube.
• Join me for that coffee on January 20′s live coaching call to take the next step

Live CREATIVE! Let’s create the best year ever!

 

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What’s is gonna be for you in 2013? 

A wild new adventure that challenges you, scares you, takes you to your limit and feeds you?

Or the way it’s always been?

Seth Godin, in his brave new book The Icarus Deception, challenges each and every one of us to step into our roles in the world as artists. “Art is not a gene or a specific talent,” he says. “It’s an attitude, available to anyone who has a vision that others don’t, and the guts to do something about it.”

Today is December 27th. Christmas is past: dinners eaten, gifts opened, wrappings trashed. The holiday magic is back in its hat until next year.

The New Year is around the corner. Champagne and good-luck foods. Fireworks and party sparkle. Midnight kisses. One more chance to get it right before the year begins.

But is that all you get?

Is that all you’ll allow yourself? A bit of holiday magic before you get back to business? What if your entire year could sparkle with magic? What if your 365 days were filled with meaning: doing something that really matters to you, that stretches you outside your comfort zone and drops you right in the bullseye of what you are here on earth to do. What if 2013 could be that kind of year for you?

Are you willing to risk it? Are you willing to live another year not risking it?

• What matters to you?
• What do you believe is beyond your reach?
• What would make it all worthwhile?

Just start where you are. Take the Wheel today.

In my book, I offer you a way to live your life as a creative adventure. This is not a promotional catch phrase, but my personal experience of what life can be. I’ve spent 10 years developing a compass you can use to navigate the highs and lows of the process you go through to create anything new in your life.

It’s not easy. And it’s not for everyone. But if you have the guts to step into your life in a whole new way this next year, the Wheel of Creativity will help you. And so will I.

Get the book. Then join me on January 20th for a special free teleconference to “Create Your Best Year” ever. Join my Creative Adventure Journal list to get more details.

Live CREATIVE!

With love,

Katherine

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Q:  What is the practical use of the Wheel of Creativity and how can it help me get the best out of every day?

- Sebastian

 

A:  Thank you, Sebastian, for posing the question I hear from almost everyone. The Wheel of Creativity identifies 12 stages of the process and shows you the tasks you need to achieve to move through each one. How???

Okay. Let’s give it a go.

 

 

You Are Here

The Wheel of Creativity is at its essence a tool of understanding. It shows you where you are in relation to the life you want today. It helps you:

• Choose conscious and creative responses to your present circumstances
• Identify what you want to create next in your day or your life
• Set tangible goals and objectives for creating it
• Achieve the tasks required to profit from each stage of your creative process
• Use your present circumstances as a path of personal transformation

This is the high-level overview of your life through the lens of the Wheel. That view is as useful to how you go through your day as it is to how you build your business. But the Wheel gives direction to your life on the ground as well as in the heavens.

Stop, Look and Listen and Then Cross the Street

The Wheel walks you step-by-step through the 12 stations of creating anything. By the time you’ve made the tour, you will have mastered the four distinct quarters in the cycle of creation.

1. Vision:  What do I want? What do I long for today?
2. Exploration: What can I do about that? And what is available out there to help me?
3. Incubation: What’s occurring that’s beyond my control? How can I stay open? How can I assist the seeds of my longing to grow?
4. Cultivation: What is required to produce the result? What kind of action is required? How does this lead me toward my ultimate aim?

Framing your daily choices in the context of a higher purpose gives your life direction. By understanding your decisions as part of a larger creative process you call your life, simple things inspire you, obstacles become opportunities, and everything in your life has meaning.

So go on then. Live CREATIVE!

 

Got a question?

I love interacting with you directly on the things that matter to you. Post your questions here or on the Wheel of Creativity’s Facebook page.

Another Q&A next Friday…

Almost every Friday I post a Q&A here. To be sure you don’t miss an installment, sign up for Blog Alerts. Just fill in the top box over to the right there to get email updates.

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View From The Ivory Tower

Going away to college in Chicago opened the box for me, but only slightly. I was a smart girl and had been well prepped for a good education. Following in the pastor’s footsteps, I applied to only one school. Time magazine called Wheaton College “The Harvard of the Evangelicals;” we affectionately knew it as Billy Graham University, as he had gone there too.

Wheaton was a new piece of the same fabric—religious, strict, conservative, uniform. Even when transferred to a new garden, this little goat still jumped to the same height. But somehow from this ivory tower, I began to get a glimpse of life out there, beyond the unilateral vision of my childhood. There were over 200 denominations represented at Wheaton—from Quakers to Catholics. Not everyone thought like my parents.

 

I became a tourist in a new world of thought. I had my favorite stops on that tour: psychology, philosophy, astronomy, drama, art and music appreciation, and pottery making. I longed for new vistas I had not seen before. Each stop was a feast of new ideas and experiences—just enough to keep a starving girl alive.

Shock & Awe

My favorite professor, Robert Webber, won me over when he incited our Bible class with the words,  “Kill a Commie for Christ!”  I liked his shocking way of making a point. It blew the top off the box, if only for 45 minutes.

I approached Wheaton the only way I knew to approach school, for strict academic pursuit. I might have majored in Art, but because I did not draw, I believed I could not be an artist. Though I had studied voice and Wheaton had a renowned conservatory, I did not even consider music. Looking back, I believe these life-limiting choices evidenced my prejudice—that creativity is exclusive and reserved for a select few. But they also drove me to keep searching.

And you?

Q: What fabric has lost its sparkle for you? What new vistas do you long for?

Continued next Monday…

To be sure you don’t miss an installment, sign up for Blog Alerts. Just fill in the top box over to the right there to get email updates. In the meantime…

C’mon! Share your story – leave a comment. And live CREATIVE!

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Q: I’m so busy attending to all the important things in my life that I end up being stressed out with the people I love. Can the Wheel of Creativity help me manage the conflicting priorities of a very busy life?

A: This is a question I think we can all relate to. I know I can! No matter how important the things in our life are, they are not as important as the people. But it’s up to each of us to create the containers for our time that nourish and fulfill us.

 

The Tyranny of the Urgent

One of life’s greatest challenges is to manage the feeling of urgency that comes up in response to our circumstances and the passage of time. It’s so difficult to step back and detach from that urgency, but stepping back is how you return to your own center. And that is where all your answers lie. At your center you are deeply connected with your own Source, the free flowing creative energy of life.

From Spin to Stillness

The Wheel of Creativity distinguishes between Form and Essence: the finite forms of life on the perimeter of the Wheel and the eternal essence of life at the center. It is incredibly easy to get so wrapped up in what’s going on out there that you completely forget that you are at the center of it all, resting in Source.

When you become too attached to the circumstances on the outside of the Wheel you get caught in the centrifugal force. But no matter what you are juggling today, no matter how many priorities you need to balance, the unchanging, silent stillness is instantly available at the center of the Wheel with a simple shift in focus.

Daily Centering with Meditation

One of the most effective ways I have found to return to that center is meditation. Meditation does not have to be complicated, lengthy, or even hard. It simply means detaching from every thing and returning to the essence of life, always there within you. Whether you are sitting, walking, swimming, working or eating, you can use that experience to return to your center.

I have so much faith in the truth of this principle that I have created a simple guided meditation to share with you. It is absolutely free. Return to your center, find your timeless essence, and reconnect with your Source wherever you are at any time of day. Click here to download. If you’ve already downloaded it, remember to use it when you’re feeling scattered. Everything you need to manage on the perimeter of your life flows more easily from the center.

Has meditation worked for you? Share your story!

And live CREATIVE!

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

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Last week my husband and I bought our first Nespresso machine. I think I have drunk more espresso drinks this week than I ever have, simply because it is so easy. But, for all the ease and perfection of a Nespresso coffee, there is something missing in it too. For me, that something is the creative process.

A Nespresso coffee is a perfect coffee: a perfectly pressed 19-bar espresso every time, with 16 different flavors and intensities to choose from. Cappuccinos have perfect froth (more or less at the flick of a button). And Lattes are a meditation in the making (see this week’s 2MM on YouTube). But honestly, after a week with our new coffee pet at home, it is just too easy to be fun.

A couple of years ago, we bought a coffee machine for our flat in France. It is a combination coffeemaker: filter coffee on one side and espresso coffee on the other. In either case this machine requires a bit of time and effort. Both our coffeemakers are by the Italian firm DeLonghi; the machine in England is made in partnership with Nespresso. One makes a perfect coffee automatically; the other makes an imperfect coffee by hand.

Comparing cappuccinos

The Nespresso Automatic:

1. Insert the coffee capsule
2. Snap the cold milk container in place
3. Press the button

The DeLonghi Handmade:

1. Fill the espresso filter with ground espresso coffee
2. Tamp it down
3. Insert the coffee filter and twist it tight in place
4. Turn the knob to the coffee position
5. Turn the knob back to stop the flow of coffee
6. Allow the machine to reheat
7. Turn the knob to the steam position and allow it to heat again
8. Add cold milk to the chilled metal pitcher
9. Position the frothing tube in the milk pitcher
10. Turn another knob to release the steam
11. Circulate the pitcher around the tube to froth the milk
12. Add the steamed milk and froth to the espress

What has surprised me in all this is that, even though the Nespresso coffee is more consistently delicious, I am more fulfilled making my coffees by hand. It is not because the coffee is better per se, because my handmade coffee cannot compete with Nespresso perfection. The handmade coffee is more interesting because I am more involved in its creation.

Progress, as we define it today, makes our lives easier; but it also costs us something. It is costing us our involvement in life. It’s a bit like the difference between reading the book and seeing the film. One requires our energy and imagination while the other does the work for us. “Use it or lose it,” as they say.

One of the most popular myths about the creative process is that it should come easily. There are powerful moments of insight and flow, where ideas develop without effort. But there are also hours and hours of sheer work, showing up, asking questions, solving problems. And there are hours more of routine, repetitive actions, the rituals of the creative proces

An original creative product – whether a painting, a machine or a coffee – reveals these hours in the subtle flavors between the lines. It is the je ne sais quoi that makes one product outshine another. This is the spirit, the energy, the time, the life force of the person(s) who created it. A copy will never have this. The Nespresso coffee machine is such a product; the coffee it makes is not.

A handmade cappuccino is an original every time, while an automatically ‘perfect’ one is always a copy. The handmade coffee I drink in France, even in its imperfection, has my spirit in it; the automatic, perfect Nespresso coffee in England does not. Do I end up drinking more coffee in England because it is easier or because it is less fulfilling?

The pleasure of coffee is not just about the product – a perfect blend of ingredients and flavors and froth alone. It also has something to do with the process. It is not just about drinking the coffee; it is about making it too. Likewise, the pleasure of life lies not in what we have, but in what we do with it. Some things are just too easy to be fun.

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