Mindfulness and Creativity: The Wow of Wonder
You are so creative.
Don't deny it. Whether or not you consider yourself a creative
type, the truth is that you are constantly creating ideas.
Mindfulness invites you to be aware of this constantly flowing
river, and offers an opportunity to choose to sit beside it
instead of swimming in it. By watching the ideas from that calm
riverbank, you can more clearly see the ones that float to the
top and sparkle in the sun.
But mindfulness is more than just mind watching mind. When we
are engaged in the process of creating--whether that's words,
numbers, music, art, or movement--without getting swept up in
the concept of where it might be leading, that is a very pure
form of mindfulness.
If creating is mindfulness in action, the little push that gets
things moving is the thrill of discovery. As humans, we are
fascinated by novelty, and we are pulled by our joy of seeing
something in a new light.
Mindfulness allows us to approach the world with childlike
wonder, to play with new concepts, and to see things from a
shifted perspective. You can't always engage in new activities,
but through mindfulness, you can look at the same-old same-old
with fresh eyes.
The Wow of Wonder is what stimulates us to be creative. Without
it, we are likely to come down with our culture's most prevalent
malady--mindlessness. Mindlessness causes us to move through
life without really connecting to any of it. It's living on
auto-pilot. It's living without wonder--or fun.
Here's a helpful reminder: fun is good. We don't have to make
mindfulness HARD. There is nothing hard about it. We were
incredibly mindful and creative as children, and guess what? We
had a lot more fun then, too!
The things that captivated you as a child were objects and ideas
that triggered your sense of wonder. You noticed something new,
and jumped right into the Wow of Wonder. And there were plenty
of things that elicited that response every single day.
A bug you'd never seen. A card trick. Something under a
microscope. A new musical instrument. A dance move. A song. An
animal. A poem. A historical fact. A new flavor of candy.
Mindfulness is a catalyst for wonder. You notice something. An
idea is sparked. A distinction is made. A perspective shifts.
There is a fullness in that moment, ripe with possibilities but
unburdened by expectations.
The Wow of Wonder is what allows us to transcend what we "know"
and float in that river of ideas without sinking under the
weight of evaluation. In our most mindful moments, it is wonder
that saves us from overthinking and keeps things light.
There's no need to work at making mindfulness a part of your
life. It's already there, and you can glimpse it in all of your
favorite memories. Being right there in the moment, full of
wonder, and playing with discovery--this is you being a creative
person!
Pay attention to your moments of fun, and you'll see that
there's a hefty dose of mindfulness in there. You are smiling.
You are fully present. You are creating ideas and responses. You
feel alive.
Becoming mindful is simply getting reconnected to wonder about
the world and your place in it. Look for the Wow of Wonder, and
you'll find yourself immersed in mindfulness.
Isn't it wonder-ful?