Emptying yourself, preparation for creativity

I am jumping from one thought to another, yet my mind doesn’t seem to grasp anything worth it to hold on to. How necessary is to empty ourselves from time to time!

Just like breathing, in order to take new fresh air, you must exhale before. And if you breath out it is always followed by an inhale, that is the urgency of life. The urgency of taking in from your surroundings and giving as much. That is also creativity. It has some sort of urgency too, it is trying to catch something that escapes to your control with every breath.

And when you are about to say something, you breath in… the conversation has already begun before you actually talk. In order to go into any profound conversation, even if it is just with yourself, requires any kind of preparation, at least a deep breath beforehand. Therefore, what do you do to prepare to work creatively? How do you include it in addition to your usual warmup, either before, during or after?

Before I continue, I want to clarify that by creative work I do not mean just the making of a master piece, but to open yourself up to a place where there is potential for anything to happen, where you are vulnerable so your body can be strong and all your knowledge flows to create new possibilities in the right place at the right moment.

As a dancer, as an artist, to work on the state you are in is another tool of your technique. How do you get into the right state for a rehearsal? And for a performance? Is there any difference? Does your need change from one work to another, in the same way you might choose a different physical warm up? The right state is both, physical and mental (we could even add other levels, like spiritual one), because creating involves the whole being, it requires unity with yourself.

You will notice that when your body is warm you are very sensitive to subtle details, and when you are highly concentrated your awareness expands to other levels of consciousness. But if you are physically tired or too full in your head, too busy with some task or thoughts, you cannot let yourself go and in moments of intense brainy work (as lots of memorising) your body sort of blocks. Balance. Creativity takes as much of listening as doing.

Nevertheless, there is no specific way on how to enter a creative state. It is different for everybody; some people find it through exhaustion, others through repetition or calming themselves. It is different even every day; sometimes, I have experienced a strong feeling of creativity with a certain preparation and, the next day, it doesn’t come the same way, just like going to open a door which is not there anymore. There is no exact feeling to seek for and say that is it. It’s just it. There is no formula.

However, creativity needs no fear, no unnecessary tensions, trust and playfulness, it needs for your body and yourself to be open.

The more you try to be original, the less creative you are going to be. It is a process, which you cannot deliver in a specific form. Because it does not come in productivity and just ego; it is in your own body and individuality, but in connection with the others. And it is in the space, in the room, you have to call it but you have to let it happen, you cannot force it.

So, it takes time to come. But it also takes the choice of simply being. Then, when you allow yourself to do that, it comes in no time.

Keep on breathing, focus on emptying yourself so new air may flow.

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