How To Be Creative

I'm Shanti.

So welcome and good evening to Soul to Soul and we're going to look tonight at how to be a creator or how to be creative.

It's actually more wonderful than we might think because we're all creators but we don't think about that.

It just seems just ordinary natural and we just got on with life because everyone creates their life and everyone creates thoughts at every second.

So it's to be motivated actually to create something that brings happiness.

So all the time every second of every day we're using energy so it would be good if we had some form of purpose and understanding about this energy that we're using.

Do you want to create harmony in the place that you live?

If I'm inspired to find peace I will practice meditation every day.

I begin to learn about being a peaceful soul and feel the benefit of that energy of peace cascading through the self.

So this peace will give me more energy to be creative because I'll be putting back a lot of my energy that's turned to be peace.

I'll be renewing some of my lost energy by the practice of peace.

Very simple,

Very pleasant.

If I practice meditation every day this will bring peace which will give me more energy to be creative.

Then I'm on the track.

I'm actually then on a creative pathway.

However when you create something if you're a joiner or an artist or a musician you need materials in order to create.

But what we need is peace and kindness.

That's our materials.

Seems very simple.

We all have virtues and skills.

Listening to spiritual things every day will build up understanding of how this spiritual energy works.

The creative process is the same no matter what I'm creating.

If I'm an artist,

A musician or the same thing I have to use my thoughts to see how things work and how it goes together.

Put together the jigsaw really.

So make a plan and experiment.

So what am I going to experiment on?

Once I start to experiment I can check the results.

I just improve and try again.

So here's what we're thinking to create knowingly.

We do it anyway but not often knowingly.

Because being a creator is being a giver.

I want to give something.

An attitude of being a well-wisher.

Someone who wants to contribute something is a creator and the benefit is not wanting to take.

So when I understand that the trap of being a consumer is that I want to take then I will be careful with my energy.

Because don't be a taker spiritually.

Don't expect the praise.

Don't expect people to be falling at your feet.

Don't expect them to give,

Give,

Give to you.

You are the giver and actually this is an amazing thing to happen to us in the drama.

The opportunity to interact with others is an opportunity for me to create good energy thoughts in myself.

I have to create good energy thoughts in myself if I want to give good energy to someone else.

So someone else is actually giving me an opportunity and even if they're very negative and I would even say especially if they're very negative and it seems almost not worthwhile it's always worthwhile because it's a chance for me to be a creator of my own energy and that good energy will be uplifting me.

I'll be uplifting myself when I have the attitude of uplifting another.

So the benefit of being with others is that I can use my energy to make sure that I'm having a stock of good feelings and good wishes which will then be imparted to another even if it's just through thoughts it might not always be possible through words and often it would be through words also and attitudes as well and that is uplifting me.

So the more I do this,

So to be a creator means I get the benefit of my creation which is the thoughts I've created for myself not the benefit of what I've given others that's up to them.

So I was thinking when when you're an artist or a joiner and you create something the benefit of the wonder of that piece of furniture or that picture comes to you.

Others might never be interested in it,

They might not buy it,

They might not go wow but you have the benefit because you've learned so much it might not even look very good but you learned when you made it what to look out for the next time.

So you think oh I'll do it better,

I'll do it different.

So you would learn from being a creator.

So when we're busy creating peace,

Kindness and harmony,

When I'm in interaction I'm so busy thinking I have to stay calm here and I have to be kind here,

I want to keep the atmosphere good here then I'm doing it for myself but I'm imparting it as a gift to someone else which it will be touching them but they might not pick it up and use it as such with understanding but it'll still be touched because when I think of kindness and harmony I won't be so affected by my own weaknesses.

So the way we talk about becoming making our energy pure again and we think we'll do it through fighting with karmic accounts and struggling,

Challenges and worry and oh gosh I don't know this is difficult,

Oh I didn't have time to do that,

Oh it's not like that actually I just have to start thinking of lovely thoughts which affect myself.

It's like amazing actually.

So meditation is the key in every step of the creation process.

So when I'm refreshed through meditation and I feel good and even if I don't feel good I can inspire myself to feel good.

I say look I'm not going down that track of not feeling good anymore.

I want to feel better so I'm going to just create the thoughts.

Somehow we think that some magic wand has to come along to make me feel better.

Something from out there has to come to say everything's okay so then I'll feel better.

I mean we've been addicted to praise and if I hear that someone's been defaming me I can get so upset.

Well don't go there anymore.

That's the way they are,

That's the way they are.

Remember they're also defaming themselves at the same time.

If they're defaming you that bad vibe is also going through their entire system.

So we don't want to do that.

So meditation is the key in every step of the creation process and peace is the foundation.

So the meditation to be a peaceful soul,

To feel peaceful,

Then to look at virtues and values and kindness and understanding and love,

Sympathy.

Let all of these have a great time.

I can have as many of these energies as I'm able to think about and I'm refreshing the self actually big time.

And when you've been creating like this you can feel that gosh you don't feel tired,

You don't want to go to sleep.

Well you find it hard maybe to go to sleep.

You've got to start bringing your energy down because your energy goes high.

So peace is the foundation and connection with the divine gives me support.

And if I practice these things with such a light-hearted attitude the conversations with the divine lets me check that I am on the creative track to help others.

So I'm not on it to me me me me me me me.

I'm there to help others.

However to help others you have to help yourself.

So what it is you have to make sure you've got the energies in place,

The kindness,

The peace,

The love,

The happiness and then this can be transferred to others.

Not to look for self-praise.

Praise myself up all that because I did well there.

No that is firming up my ego if I do that because my energies,

These energies are natural.

If they're natural it's just I've forgotten about them.

And if they're natural what is there to praise myself in?

I'll get the praise through the well-being.

Feelings of well-being in the self.

So when I look at things in this way it keeps me steady so that I don't get carried away and then add to my karmic accounts by starting to think I'm great or anything in the wrong way because these energies are for sharing with other beings of energy in a natural way.

I am peace.

I am love.

I am purest energy.

I am happiness.

So that they're just there but when we forget them and forget to use them then we get worried and sad and concerned and stressed etc.

So when I begin to see the contrast I just don't want to go back there anymore and from time to time we will get worried but we could quickly pull ourselves out very quickly.

See oh gosh I'm not I'm just not going there anymore because I will also cause a damage to whoever I'm with when I think in that worried concerned heavy way.

They will also be picking it up and the way I would see it is that I don't want to add to their complications through them knowing me.

I remember when I first started to practice meditation and I started to look at these things and some people that I was dramatically fond of and were my family and friends and I had such a big habit of being on the phone and talking and sharing everything and I remember thinking one day I must watch what I say.

I can't now just share all the things that can I'm still concerned at that time because I was new but I thought they've got their work they've got enough worry.

If I keep now continuing to offload my worries on to them and I know a little bit better by this time it's not right and so I stopped sharing the depths of my despairs which I still had at the beginning because I had just started to do meditation and so I didn't I didn't share it and then people think it's strange you're not what's happened you're not sharing the same as you used to share but hopefully one day they'll know that you just didn't burden them with a whole load extra worry which really what it's all about.

So to this process in this word to be a creator I have to be a creator of my own energy for myself so that myself starts to get strong shine and feel kindness and understanding able to actually listen to others be with others and know that I'm I'm good for them even if they don't think I'm good for them because they don't know but I am and at some point that will be helping them so to be inspired to practice and practice meditation every day actually I would say which will give us more and more energy to practice the creative process okay I was realizing as you're talking that I need to check do it do I enjoy the fight or the struggle you the inner fight the inner struggle the inner battles what is it that I'm getting from it if I keep doing it and then as you kept talking I realized I need to go back and think keep reaffirming what I want to create and then I'll be able to recognize that process of battling I'm just saying no thanks but it's like a habit it's almost like you're saying like many victories you feel like one conquered that one over that struggle and you kind of enjoy the tussle inside but it's not part of the peace process it's not really helping me or others it's because it is a habit and we don't see the habit kicking in there and we're halfway through it but maybe still haven't realized that the habit is in charge at the moment and we haven't a clue how it started or how to stop it and meanwhile we're we're into it and we may be winning temporary winning that particular chaos and and if we think about it afterwards we won't feel very good but we won't know how on earth that happened again we won't know it's when I do this process of meditation and I start to slow down my thinking if you think too fast it's very very tricky to slow down your thoughts and if you speak too fast you will think too fast so to teach yourself to kind of start to slow down the way you speak not too slow slow but to slow it down then you can control the words that you say more because you can catch yourself sometimes about to say something and stop and go gosh I know I won't go there and so your thoughts obviously are the things that are there before the words and so you're able to then slow down your thoughts and with that practice you can have a chance to begin and it's very enjoyable especially when you start to know you're getting the benefit over and over again so that comes back to my next question which is about motivation do you think is knowing the benefit that motivates because it's not so much having the skills or the talents for creating anything even creating positive thoughts or beautiful art or incredible music what is that spark of motivation that sets the creative process off?

It's I want to be of use.

I can only think for myself when I answer these questions is that the spark wouldn't be I want to do something amazing amazing amazing but the spark would be I feel my energy feels it wants to do something that would maybe inspire others that would uplift others even make them smile and just make them see something lovely for a short time I'm speaking from the perspective of being an artist and just something that would make people feel wow in for a second because most people they don't get carried away that much but I would enjoy doing that for me so you have to enjoy doing it for you and then when you see that it makes you feel more light-hearted and that you've done something and if that is helping or give a helping to uplift others then you want to keep doing it so that's talking about something out there like artwork or being a joiner or something or a musician but inside if someone comes to you that's very troubled or sad and you don't get too much into the heaviness but they actually start to when they go away from you see they feel much better you haven't pried into their business but just by being there and thinking very clearly you can get an idea how to put vibration to give them and it happens a lot you can feel that that was useful but it was also the benefit that went to you you see because you created that energy stronger in yourself yeah yeah and easy I mean quite often when we first start meditation we think oh oh gosh I don't know all this sounds like oh oh you have to change everything around so dramatically but naturally it's not quite like that you do change everything around but in a very very soft lovely sweet and kindly and very very nice way nourishing way it nourishes your soul and uplifts others so everyone could be creative because everyone can be useful everyone can use their energy to uplift others even if it's well and especially with their thoughts and vibrations though one of the last things you said was about ego how do I if I don't get a lot of praise or accolade or adoration for my good works or whatever and I don't want that but how do I maintain and sort of self respect about who I am and yet not develop or add you said not not it's not about developing developing it's about not having to your ego how do I do that because all this that you're doing if you start to feel you're being a well-wisher and you recognize you are a creator creators very powerful position in life most people are consumers they're not creators they're ready to pick up whatever anyone else has created so you you sort of lift yourself up just by the thought that you're now creating good energy patterns and everything we do in this physical world has a label so instead of being at having the label of I'm a taker and a consumer I can have the label and many labels that go with it of being a creator and I will be sure and I'm an uplifter and these are much better labels and I can be loving and kindly and all sorts of different understanding and these are still ego as well because their attitudes but their spiritual attitudes and so they're like pure ego that I am the soul the point of light and within that go many many different attitudes and ways that I can use and I can let go of I am bossy I am angry I am superior I am gossip and this and all the rest of I can let go of a lot of these old egos okay so thank you and we'll just have a minute of meditation so to think of the self as the spiritual creator and the center of the forehead the energy the light the beautiful being and if I have the wish to share that beauty and to strengthen that beauty within the self I will wish to continue to experience and practice and expand on those areas in my character and my attitudes because we have big hearts and we have love for everyone actually and to not be daunted by the differences in others and to not look for the praise and the accolades because it lasts a second and it's not always real that's better have something that is real and I have something to give that is worth giving I'm a soul and when I remember the divine and when I have conversation with the divine this helps me to see that I am on the creative track and I'm inspired more and more to help others not so much the word help but to be of use to help others to recognize who they are so that they can become spiritual creatures for themselves om shanti