Connected and Creative (part 2)

Yesterday’s written ramble concluded with the sage advice to us all to ‘stay connected and creative’. Of course, what this directive might really mean and how we might actually follow it is a whole other matter.

When I was in my twenties, I was a member of an improvisational dance company. We taught and performed around New England and even occasionally got paid, so we considered ourselves professional dancers. We never choreographed any dances, but were continually studying and practicing how to be present enough in the moment to allow something new to happen.

It turns out to be surprisingly difficult to be creative. The mind of yesterday is so powerful with its opinions and suggestions. We found that when our dances came from our ideas of what we should do or from other dances we had seen or thought our way into, the dances were uninspired. Not much fun to watch and actually boring to be a part of since we were just acting out what had already be thought. But when we stayed close enough to our experience of the moment itself, then we were able to follow something other than our thoughts and something new emerged. This newness made life more interesting for the dancers and the audience alike.

We slowly learned, and then we taught the three directions of awareness that are helpful in finding your way to the new and creative place—in dances and in life.

First: connect to yourself. Turn your attention inward and notice how it is for you right in this moment. Beyond any words of description or stories about what happened or will happen. What are the sensations and senses of this moment? Just notice what is already here. Be present and curious. We can even connect to feeling disconnected. We might call this your internal weather of the moment. Strong winds or no breeze. Light or dark. Wet or dry. Whatever is here is here.

Second: connect to what is right in front of you. The person, the dog, the plant, the object. When we turn our attention outward, we are always met by something. Can you notice right now what catches your attention, right where you are? Take a few moments just to be present with whatever that is – to allow yourself, in this focused way to be alive in relationship. What arises within you as you focus your attention on just this? (While this may seem easier to do with another human, the whole world around us, even indoors, may be available to us in ways we cannot rationally comprehend.)

Third: connect to the greater whole. This is soft focus awareness of the totality of the environment that surrounds you. 360 degrees awareness. Can you allow yourself to be present with what is in front of you as well as what is behind you. The whole gestalt of the room or space you are in. Every place has its own feel and resonance. Allow your awareness to be diffuse—to see and sense and feel. What can you can receive from the wholeness of the place in which you find yourself right now.

One way to think of how to be connected is to consciously practice these three directions of attention: self, other and the whole. I guarantee your actual experience won’t be as neat and sequential as it sounds, but, with practice, you can actually train your attention to be present in new ways.

And this is the foundation of creativity.