Redefining Creativity As Service
Look at how beautiful we are.
We all have myopic moments. Not least of all creatives and not least of all, me. Producing creative work (and isn’t everything?) is a direct threat to our safety, as far as our nervous system is concerned. We get in our head. So then awaken the demons of self-doubt, criticism, catastrophizing, procrastination, shame; perfectionism in all its forms.
And if we’re struggling with something (and aren’t we all?) like chronic pain, trauma, economic instability, or social isolation—being “stuck in my head” with these demons often feels safer and easier than real-time relating. Relating with our creative ideas, materials, or with another.
I know this to be true because I’ve seen it in my creative coaching/facilitation clients and I’ve seen it in myself over the last 1.5 years. In this time, there’s been multiple moments when my mammalian survival brain has taken all the attention away from my creative joy or values. And it’s taken reconnecting with and expanding my spirituality—my entire belief system and how it’s connected to these values—to bring it back.
I’m sharing this with you today because, genuinely, you’re a key part of it.
“It’s not about you”
I’ve mentioned this quote on a few podcasts now, said to me by Dr Lauren Hazzouri backstage at an event, after I mentioned being nervous about interviewing Esther Perel. What did she mean? She meant, I was just a conduit. I could be anyone. My personal details didn’t matter. I could replaced. In a good way. Only the message matters. Only the audience, and what they take away—how they feel—matters. And she was right, of course.
Your public creative expression is not about you. If it was all about you, you wouldn’t dare to even imagine sharing it. It would be a private journal entry, or an art therapy session, or a quiet moment of artistic self-care. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably a creative who knows (whether you like it or not) that sharing something of your heart, your imagination, outwardly is important. Important to realising your full expression in this lifetime and even important to the people it reaches.
Think of a piece of art that has touched you. Think of how you’ve been moved by a particularly relatable poem, or being gifted a child’s artwork, or smiling at a clever piece of graffiti, or feeling inspired by someone’s style. Art is important because it reminds us that we’re alive, together. Storytelling, dance, song, pictures—our expression is older than time itself. It’s our divine spark. When we see it expressed in others, we remember that it’s in us too.
Creativity isn’t about us—with our supposed special designation as artistic, or interesting, or worthy. It’s about expressing our collective true nature. Like holding a mirror up to all the world, and saying “look how beautiful you are”.
How much would change if you truly felt that in your bones? Are you willing to be uncomfortable, if you know for a fact that sharing your art would empower just one person? Because everyone who’s expressed themselves creatively has felt that fear, that intense cringe, and they’ve done it anyway. What makes them do it is love. Creative expression is service.
I know. It would be so much easier to think that the people sharing their work with seeming ease are just naturally confident, or over-confident, or derivative, or shameless, stuck up even. And look, that may be the case for those acting out of integrity, who don’t have a strong value system in place. We’ve all come across it. But actually, most are just people who’ve directly felt the importance of creativity. Who want to recreate that sense of inspiration, or awe, or togetherness with you. And they’ve allowed themselves to get out of their own way to do it.
Creative expression is service. It makes sense when you believe that each human being on this planet is worthy of well-being and fulfilment. When you see that divine spark in each of them (no matter how different they might be to you). When you believe that everyone is capable of change, of profound goodness, and of realising God—because she’s alive in everyone. Not only as a tiny fragment, as “divine spark” may have implied, but as infinite consciousness / awareness / bliss itself, existing just behind the “I” we in our ignorance identify with.
If you see everything and everyone as God—as the One and Only thing that exists, both transcendent from, and immanent as, all of life—the next logical step is seeing everything you do as devotion, as service to the divine as it’s expressed in others.
It’s been profoundly helpful for me to drop a heavy and serious association with my body, my mind, or my work. And to drop that association from other people’s body, minds, and works too. If it all sounds too esoteric, just frame it materially. You and I both have much more microbial life forms on and within us, than we do matter that could be called ours. Even what’s “ours” is just made of other natural elements. Each of us is a walking universe of intelligent systems, of billions of lives, all working in constellations of relationships just like we (the people we call ourselves) do.
There is no inherent “me” or “you”. There is only a life force, a consciousness, powering itself endlessly. Provoking plants to grow. Attracting bees to flowers. Compelling humans to express something of their imaginative, creative nature. We are Awareness that yearns to become aware of itself. We delight in doing, and seeing, creative acts because we delight in our own image.
“Give as the rose gives perfume, because it is its own nature, utterly unconscious of giving.” — Swami Vivekanada
Imagine what you could achieve if you dreamed and created from a place of pure service. Imagine what we’d be capable of collectively if we made art out of love—because we deeply knew and stood firm in the impact—validation, empowerment, hope, visibility, conversation, liberation—of what art can do for others. Yes, even “frivolous” stuff. Yes, even when it’s not “good”. Yes, even from people who might feel inadequate, or not-ready, or uncomfortable.
The best comedians just want to make people briefly laugh. The best painters just want you to see what they saw. Feel what they felt for a moment. The best artists and creatives, from the lauded to the little old ladies, are generous. They know they’re in a conversation, in a relationship with you. They’re actively reaching out to you because that connection—between you and I, between audience and artist—is more important than any real or imagined criticism.
When I say “people need your work”, I don’t mean that individual people are going to find it life-changing and world-shaking. They might! But I really mean, all of us need all of us to be creatively expressive. Because each of us has a role in building the world we want to see.
There is an artist right now in Gaza called Amal Abu Al-Sabah painting murals on the rubble of buildings. She has bigger mind-demons to fight than those of perfectionism. She creates because she has a message. It’s not “for her” that she does it, it’s for everyone else.
When we work deeply anchored in our beliefs, in our values, and see our work as service to the wider community or world, not only do we get out of our own way and make the things we dream of—we serve our people in ways that are valid, necessary, and powerful. And better yet, we feel more and more personally fulfilled. This is the power of creativity. Even after we go, what we’ve made remains and it echoes over and over through time: “I was here. And you were here with me. And look how beautiful we are.” *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
News: In the past few months, meditating on creativity as service and devotion has led me to a renewed vigour and love for my creativity coaching clients and work. As such, I want to increase my client intake again! I have room for 3-4x additional clients this quarter starting immediately. Suss out the webpage and get in touch if you feel the pull to be one of them. Neurodivergent, sensitive weirdos* are the majority of my clients and strongly encouraged!
*There is no ‘right’ way to show up for this work. Take it from me, a disabled autistic coach who’s currently typing this while wearing a neck support collar. Come as you are. Payment tiers and scholarships available.
Journaling prompts
When do I ‘get in my head’ creatively?
What does it feel like /sound like when that happens?
What can I tell / do for myself when that happens?
What do I believe to be true about the power of creativity to touch someone?
When have I been powerfully touched? What was it like?
Art and storytelling are necessary to people and the world because…
I’m a part of this because…
I know generous self-expression to be my true nature when…
I want to be of service to others creatively, in this lifetime, because…
I vow to be of service to others, by feeling_______ by thinking______ and by doing________.
Tarot card of the week
Here comes Death. Our constant companion and greatest teacher. This card can be particularly confronting for those of us in the West with a Christian upbringing. Because eternal damnation etc. But as I’m a nondualist, I’ll say death is never the end. Just a transformation. A shift from one state to another. And if you can stay with the discomfort of death, decay, and tragedy long enough to resolve the problem of evil, then you realise all your fears of punishment, misfortune, and terror are but the mysterious play of the Divine, you can understand that this shift is never, ever something to fear.
This isn’t to dismiss tragedy. It’s to validate your most resilient instincts. There is a Will that we can’t understand and with every shift, a new possibility to realise your true nature. The caterpillar really does dissolve completely in the chrysalis. She’s no more. Just goo. Without that profound change, there would be no wings and no flight. But this doesn’t mean it requires much of the caterpillar. Just like the rose, it’s her nature to dissolve and re-form. It doesn’t require a state of absolute fearlessness, of forcing some whole new brave and decisive self to emerge. It’s organic, unavoidable, and entirely natural.
In the Gita 11:32 (famous for being paraphrased by Robert Oppenheimer) Krishna says “I am mighty Time, the source of destruction that comes forth to annihilate the worlds. Even without your participation, the warriors arrayed in the opposing army shall cease to exist.” There’s nothing you can do to avoid change and there’s nothing you can do to force it to flow in ways it doesn’t will. So stop pushing Death away. Surrender your own sense of what’s best for you this week and be willing to admit that the Divine might actually know better.
How to work with me
☆THE DREAMER☆ is a free newsletter and online space for those dreaming at the intersection of creativity, therapeutic arts, ecology, magic, and neurodiversity. If you enjoy The Dreamer, support me by sharing it with your friends and social networks. And you can work with me in the following ways:
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Totally agree w creativity as service! Appreciate the story about the artist in Gaza.