Today is the first day of Spring.
Harbinger of all things new and vibrant and pure.
Like the four seasons in each year, The Wheel of Creativity is divided into four quarters.
As you move around the Wheel from Home to Chaos and back again, these four quarters, like seasons, take you into new energetic places.
Four Quarters of the Wheel
- Vision is the domain of the mind and corresponds to the element of air. It is where your thoughts rule, and where ideas are generated.
- Exploration is the domain of the spirit and corresponds to the element of fire. It is where your intuition takes you out away from what you know, and where you do your research.
- Incubation is the domain of the heart and corresponds to the element of water. It is where your emotions nourish the seed of the new growing within you, and where you begin developing a prototype.
- Cultivation is the domain of the body and corresponds to the element of earth. It is where your sensations connect you with the world around you, and where you do the work to make your idea real and useful in the world.
Four Seasons in One Day
Your thoughts are the lines you draw on the canvas of your life. They outline the pictures you make, whether a single creative project or an overarching career track that leads you through your life. They give the structure to the creations you will develop in your day and in your life.
Your intuitions – hunches or instincts – lead you out of your head into the world around you to discover what you don’t know, to engage with others and with what’s already in the world around your idea. Your spirit inspires the work and makes it universal, taking it beyond your limited personal vision into the context of all of life.
Your emotions and your feelings are the colors you use to paint within the lines you’ve drawn with your thoughts. They give richness and depth and texture and your original idea. They give space for the character of the new thing to emerge on its own and restore your passion as you fall in love with the work you’re doing.
And finally, your senses connect you with the physical world around you. They put you into the real experience of life. They connect you with other human beings who share that experience, those who will view your work, connect with it and be moved by it.
Whatever Comes… Be Inspired
Your circumstances are the subject of your creative work. They are the model in your figure drawing class, the protagonist in your story, the rhythm of your poem.
Everything in the world around you inspires you, either by your love or hate of it. Your work of art is what you do with those things, the forms you create with your mind, spirit, heart and body. Every one of us has a different vision, and every vision is important and valuable and creative. Your sketch comes only through you. The world is richer when you let it come and poorer when you don’t.
Reach out and Take Action
If you’d like to find out more about how you can use the Wheel of Creativity in your life, have fun exploring this blog. And sign up for updates on my Spring book tour itinerary to find out when I’ll be in a city near you.