Authentic creativity requires two things we don’t take seriously enough
Play and spirituality are more than a luxury of being alive, they are the livelihood of true creativity.
Where is a place you feel whole yet unfinished, and vulnerable yet safe?
I journaled that question one morning at a yoga retreat and it unintentionally became a riddle, minus the witty answer.
After writing it down, my place that came to mind was what my family called the Uppie — the finished attic in my childhood home.
It was a room the length of our house with a low triangular roof. At one end there was a stage with black and white checkered floors, and at the other end my uncle built the frame of a house with a bright blue halfway door, my schoolhouse. Between the two ends was open space and a block of a TV with VHS tapes.
It was the ultimate dreamspace.
By the time you made it at the top of a steep and narrow staircase to the Uppie, you could be anything you wanted.
I was the investigator, the teacher, the mom, the writer, the ballerina, the talkshow host — the list goes on.
Bottom line was — in this space, imagination was everything, creativity was encouraged, crying was natural, laughter was loud, and the only rule was that there are no rules.
If I stop to think about how many places make me feel the same sense of wonder and comfort today, I can only think of my yoga mat.
Yoga is about a lot of things, and one is showing up with your spirit as is.
I step onto the mat and a layer of blubber slips right off of me, I’m suddenly light and comfortably “naked.” Nothing else matters except here and now. And, I almost always walk away feeling freer and effortlessly creative.
The Uppie was like that too. I could show up sleepy, smelling like metal with sweat or wild with energy to be weird. I could wail or sing, I could teach a class of imaginary students and laugh at myself out loud.
I was whole yet unfinished and vulnerable yet safe.
“Creativity lives in paradox: serious art is born from serious play.” — Julia Cameron
Now, I get this.
When we let ourselves play, we tap into a more raw version of ourselves, one that doesn’t know to squash our dreams and be how others want us to be. In yoga this is called the “inner child.”
I’ve done yoga as part of my spiritual practice since I was 14, I only recently realized that this was the same age my family moved and we parted with the Uppie.
Play and spirituality are feeders into and off of one another, and this is how we unearth authentic creativity both big and small. Finding a place to rediscover your childish self is important.
The headspace I cultivate when I step on my mat is simply where I’ve learned to rediscover parts of myself that I’ve gradually shut down over the years, we all do.
With a few tactics (I list below) I’m able to cultivate that same headspace off the mat.
Three things I do to create my internal playroom
1. Eliminate “no” from my vocabulary for a set time
“Yes” is important because “anything” is possible and in order to create unusual “wild” things you need a “limitless” mindset. I’ve quoted the keywords to an abundance mindset—something children have.
Research shows that our brains don’t respond well to negatives. Redirection works better than dwelling on what not to do because likely, you will do just that.
2. Utilize what’s in front of me, even if it’s not much
When you’re a little kid, you use what is right in front of you without even considering that you could have something else or something “better.” I made potions from grass and mulch, didn’t you?
This mimics the idea of gratitude—to acknowledge and appreciate what you have big and small. This is a grounding exercise because while we look at a bigger picture we simultaneously put our feet in the present reality.
3. Incorporate midday play
Young children are above all, present. Here and now is what’s goin’ down. Tomorrow? Kids don’t wait for tomorrow.
They play in small moments of the day all the time, recess happens so kids can “get the wiggles out.” Those wiggles don’t go away, adults just squash the urge to do what they feel. If you’ve convinced yourself that you “don’t have the time,” it doesn’t take more than 2 minutes. You have the time.
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