Cultivated Awareness is a living channel to Conscious Creativity. We may know this intuitively, from experience, or from a range of other sources. We also know the creative process is one of challenges. With Awareness, we can transform what initially may seem like insurmountable obstacles, into profoundly expansive Creative Gifts.
Brain research tells us that when faced with a major challenge we can learn to choose our response, rather than react. We can literally reroute our cognitive experience from the reactive amygdala – the fight-or-flight “lizard brain” – to the Calm Sea of the prefrontal cortex. We can interrupt potentially self-sabotaging patterns of negative thought and behaviour, and consciously decide for new and better ones.
In The Dhammapada the Buddha says, “We are what we think… With our thoughts we make the world.” Establishing habits for cultivating inner peace and Awareness helps immensely in that “making.” It does NOT mean we’re perfect – that we never engage in mental chatter, distraction, anxiety, and drift. It means we notice when we’re off course, and we get back on.
Each time you pause, take a deep breath, and choose your thoughts in the face of a challenge, you create on purpose.
Planes on autopilot almost constantly drift off course. The cybernetic system in an airplane brings the craft back into alignment with the desired flight path – over, and over, and over again. The “Destination in Mind” – that which gets firmly programmed into the system – determines the journey.
In a human Life, as in air travel, it’s important to have a destination in mind. Call your desired aim a Vision. Call it your Dream. Let it guide you in creating the highest version of your Journey.
So how do you and I cultivate Awareness for staying on track? The process is simple, but not always easy.
Here it is…
The more we engage the prefrontal cortex, the better able we become at initiating a “pattern-interrupt.” The more we exercise that part of our brain which invites Calm and Clarity, the more easily accessible it is when we find ourselves pressed. When we learn to realign with our core sense of Purpose, we shift our Way of Being in the world.
Various practices can help us routinely engage our portal to greater Awareness and Conscious Creativity. One is taking long walks. Whether you walk a trail, country roads, a labyrinth, or city streets, you can find peace. Gardening and spending time in nature help. And of course yoga, martial arts, and meditation all are practices that heighten a sense of Focus, Calm, Clarity, and Awareness.
Another habit for honouring and nurturing your Creative Awareness is writing in a journal each morning. See what’s on your mind. Are you on an uplifting and focused trajectory? Are you drifting? Are your thoughts serving you in this moment?
In your journal you can explore whether you are on track or straying from your Purpose and Passion. You can devote daily time to clarifying what your Purpose is. Your Awareness – the act of bearing Witness to your powerful Mind’s current tendency – is the starting point for ALL you require in order to set, or realign with, your chosen course.
Learn to NOTICE when your thoughts aren’t serving you and change them. If you find that difficult, let me know.
Great books on journaling are readily available. You can also ask for Inner Guidance on how to use your journal. Write the question and see what comes…
Intuition is a powerful mental faculty connected with Awareness. You can hone your intuitive powers at any age and stage of Life by using a journal for inner dialogue. Have a conversation with your Higher Self – perhaps your future self. Ask to be shown the answers to generative questions such as these: What Vision would you LOVE to Create? What steps can you take this week to serve your Vision?
Light a candle and give yourself scheduled, daily time for introspection. Watch your experience yield Gifts. Become aware, increasingly, of the Sacred in ALL You Are and in your potential every minute.
Journal writing is not composition. It’s a form of communion.
Your Life is the composition.
