Creativity is a skill you must possess if you want to be exceptional in life. It is the hub of success and the oil that greases the wheel of success. Creativity is an incredible means to carve your niche and accentuate your success signature in everything you do. It may interest you to know that many are longing to drink from the spring of creativity that flow from within you. And that you carry within you a creative well where you can draw creative ideas for creative exploits in life. However, creativity is a product of conquest. It requires strength, courage, ability, and tact to be creative.
And David was then in a hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem. And David longed and said; oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. And three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate and brought and took it and brought it to David (2Samuel 23:14,15,16)
Breaking into the realm of creativity is by any standard not a mean feat. And to draw ideas from the creative wells is like breaking through a military garrison. For instance, it took the bravery of the three mighty men mentioned above to break through a stronghold with a dense or heavy military presence to draw water from the well of Bethlehem. For your information a garrison is a forte, stronghold, castle, or city with a troop of soldiers, it can be a legion, battalion, brigade, platoon, etc, who are there to defend, guard, and protect it against external military siege or incursion.
Now you can understand the plight of David, he was in a hold, the garrison held him back and he could not enter. However, it took the bravery of just three men to break through the dense military garrison. Such bravery is a prerequisite to invading the creative realm. The creative well is well-defended and protected and only the brave can draw out of this well. And drawing creative ideas from the creative well is akin to breaking through a garrison. You are creative only when you are able to draw creative ideas from the creative well. However, this is only possible by conquest over strong challenges. You can only storm the creative realm by your conquest.
Drawing from the Creative Well
The creative idea as the source of creative experience comes via inspiration. In other words, creative ideas are transmitted or dispatched to us from the infinite realm through inspiration. Hence, inspiration becomes a channel to tap into the creative domain. Another channel through which you can tap into the creative realm is meditation. It remains a sure way to draw creative ideas from the creative well. It is also a gateway to infinite intelligence. Meditation enhances focus, mental clarity, and emotional calmness. Meditation is a deliberate process of focusing one’s mind on specific thoughts. Through it, you break into the creative realm and drink from the spring of creativity. Check my post on meditation. But understand that the magnitude of your meditation determines the extent of your connection to the infinite realm. You too can be successful; you can break into the creative realm, and draw from the creative well.
However, you must focus enough to receive signals from the creative domain. Your mind must be fine-tuned in order to receive these creative signals at a higher frequency. Creative ideas will still elude you until you fine-tune your mind.
The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old… When there were no depths; I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains settled, before the hills was I brought forth.(Proverbs 8: 22, 24, 25)
Finally, to break into the creative domain you must meditate on God. God controls the entire creative domain. He is the source of creative ideas which made him successful in all his creations. Are you thinking of gaining access to the creative well? Then focus on God.
Inspiration the Soul of Creativity
Greatness is more than potential. It is the execution of that potential. Beyond the raw talent, you need the appropriate training. You need the discipline. You need the inspiration. You need the drive – Eric A. Burns
On this fateful day back in school we returned from lectures to the hostel to find our roommate reading. And he was doing that with the Audio CD Player playing at the peak of its volume. Immediately we asked him why he was playing the music at such a loud volume knowing he was studying and preparing for the exams. Then surprisingly the young man looked at us unabashed and told us that he likes listening to the R&B genre of music because it gives him inspiration whenever he listens to them.
Another laughable incident was about a Civil Engineering student who on a very hot afternoon while he was drafting a technical drawing almost consumed a packet of cigarettes, and when asked why he was smoking that much on a sunny afternoon he said, ‘it is for concentration’. ‘I draw well whenever I smoke’. Could this be an inspiration? It is different strokes for different folks. So what then is inspiration? Inspiration refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in literary, musical, or other artistic endeavors.
Inspiration and Creativity
The concept derives from the Latin word ‘inspirare’ which means to ‘breathe into’. It is worth noting that two vital elements fall within the purview of inspiration. First, it is an unconscious occurrence, it is involuntary, and hence we have no control over it. It comes like packets or flashes of ideas and if it is not carefully grasped can slip out of our reach. It comes like a divine influence; it is breathed into us from a higher source. Like a phone battery plugged into a power bank, there is an inspiration bank we all must connect to draw creative ideas. However, the level of our connection determines how well-disposed we are to creativity.
Second, it is solely for creativity and the level of inspiration we get determines our creative ability. How exceptional or creative we depend on the understanding that comes from inspiration. Inspiration is a divine influence or action that can stir up motivation for excellent, or exceptional performance in any endeavor. It comes with a sudden surge of brilliant or timely ideas which boost our creative abilities and also enable us to create values with these ideas. It is the life of every enterprise. Any enterprise on the verge of collapse needs the inspiration to bounce back to life. And to do that there is a need for these brilliant and timely ideas which are a product of inspiration.
The whole essence of inspiration is creativity; hence it is the soul of creativity, whereas the breath of every creative soul is ideas. Hence, when the creative mind stops drawing creative ideas from the creative well via inspiration creativity dies. Every known and notable achievement or invention in any field of endeavor whether in science and technology, the music industry, poetry, literature, filmmaking, communication, marketing, etc is a product of creativity. Thus it becomes leverage for success. As we all know creativity is a springboard for success and inspiration is a major source. Brilliant ideas for success are conceived the very moment inspiration comes. Therefore, creativity is a prerequisite for success as you need it to understand the fundamentals of any endeavor, be it business, music, arts, literature, science, or technology.