Creativity Part 1
May 22, 2025
Creativity Part 1
Welcome to this series of Daily Reflections on “Creativity.”
As we know, creativity is much more than artistic expression. The word "create" originated with the Latin verb "creo," which has roots in the ancient Sanskrit word "Kriti,” which means "to produce," "generate," or "make." So, creativity is a phenomenon in all areas of existence. Creativity is the capacity to originate ideas, work, or solutions through atypical thinking and doing processes. These generate new thoughts and concepts that are ultimately expressed. The ways they are expressed and applied are infinite. Now we reflect on the question: “What is the source of creativity?”
That we were created as totally different souls and bodies is evidence of the one-of-a-kind nature of creativity. Just look at us; we are human, but no two of us are alike. This is true of all of nature. Can you comprehend the bandwidth required to create everything in the universe as a unique entity? The enormity of that aspect of intelligence, notwithstanding all its other elements, is incomprehensible. I believe that’s why we call it Divine Intelligence. This intelligence creates, sustains, and runs the entire cosmos. As products of that intelligence, we are various aspects of it but do not embody its totality. Therefore, we are not able to totally understand or control it. This profoundly omniscient intelligence is synonymous with God or The Divine.
As a young graduate student, I was thrust into a new world beyond the one in which I grew up. In the first few weeks of classes, my formative beliefs had been dismantled by professors who introduced me to new and mind-blowing concepts. I felt strangely “betrayed” by my belief structure. I thought to myself, “What do I trust if my basic beliefs have been untrue?” My first reaction to this betrayal was to not believe in anything.
I contemplated atheism, then realized that even without a “god,” there is an intelligence that runs the universe. Something puts and keeps the universe in motion. This intelligence operates on fixed laws. It’s intelligent and must have been operating from the beginning. This intelligence must be what we call God.
Then comes the layering of attributes of this intelligence: First of all, this intelligence created a unique soul for us all and placed it in a unique body. Then it engendered in us the need to love and to be loved. Therefore, it must have the quality of love. This intelligence also puts all the Holy Ideas, virtues and the qualities of soul in us, including creativity. And we were even given the ability to create life ourselves. We were born with these qualities and lived from them as our primary identity in our first few years as our soul child. Then we realized that some of our qualities were not so desirable. Some were even destructive. So, we come to a dilemma and ask ourselves, “Is this intelligence also ‘ungood?’” Then, theology emerges as a way of explaining the nature of this divine intelligence and how we interact with it. We come to the point of the fact that regardless of why evil exists, creativity can be used for good or evil.
The bottom line is that we are connected to the source of all creativity, whether we realize this connection or not. Becoming conscious means realizing our soul’s connection to the divine. Whether we call that source God, the Higher Mind, The Great Spirit, The Divine, or another name, that intelligence is in constant Sacred Action. By consciously joining that flow, we maximize our creativity.
Spiritual practice: Have you ever been consciously aware of being in the divine flow of creativity? Can you describe that experience and record it in your journal? What qualities of your soul did you represent?
Self-inquiry: Why might it be a challenge to think of creativity as something that could be used for evil?
Dear God,
I am so thankful for the beauty and creativity you placed in us at our making. Amen
