This manifesto reflects my belief in each persons ability to create an impact on their world. My hope is that it touches a chord in you and lights a fire to take a stand for your wisdom, your gifts, for what it is you want to protect and pass on. Start today – make a statement, create a product, initiate a movement, be part of the solution the world is hungry for.
1. I believe in the creative process and it’s power; to create beauty, to heal, to transform the ordinary, to solve problems, to generate possibilities, to open channels and to create profound change.
So many people think they are not creative – what a painful lie to burden yourself with. All you need to be creative is a willingness to experiment and engage in a search for options and perspectives. Creativity is about putting things together in new ways. It is using both artistic and cognitive tools to expand thinking, open intuitive channels and delight in spontaneous play. It is about temporarily suspending the rational mind. Everyone does this naturally and the skill can be deepened and refined. I love Patti Digh’s stand that creative is a verb – Yes, Yes, Yes!
2. The creative process requires openness, vulnerability, deep listening, full engagement and a willingness to experiment and fail. Failure always holds the seeds of the next step or another experiment.
I participated in a workshop with Dr. David Burns, author of Feeling Good, in which he introduced the Therapists Toolkit. This is a large collection of cognitive exercises you can use with clients. One of the things he said is to let the client know up front that we are going to fail as fast as we can. Not every exercise will work – in fact most won’t but a few will – the only way to find them is to try them all. The phrase, fail as fast as you can stuck with me. You need vulnerability and openness to try something new, something that you don’t know will work. If it works – YEAH! If it doesn’t, what does it have to teach you and what door does it open. It’s a powerful perspective.
3. Creativity for creativity’s sake is fun and personally rewarding but creativity in service of; healing the spirit, transformation, expanding consciousness and solving global problems is profound.
Harnessing your creativity in service of…, is one of the most powerful gifts you can offer. One of the reasons I help professionals create products is that I believe products, creative tools, card decks, hands on processes and programs are amazing vehicles for transformation. What will you harness your creativity in service of?
4. We are all guided on a deep spiritual level and that guidance is always life affirming. Guidance often comes through images, associations, metaphors and serendipity.
Asking for spiritual and intuitive guidance whether it be from God, your muse, your guides, or the source, involves trust, faith and an openness to receive. It is essential to not limit how spirit can help. Invite it into your work, bring it to your creative projects. Profound tools and programs do not get created by the head alone – your intuition and spiritual guidance are immensely powerful partners.
I really believe that the images and metaphors that show up for us are almost always a step or two ahead of our conscious minds and are there to call us toward whats on our growing edge. The sunflower has been a symbol/metaphor for me for many years and it continues to hold new meaning as I grow towards it. What image comes to mind for you? What flower holds your essence?
5. I believe the gifts of the feminine consciousness (anima): creativity, intuition, empathy and collaboration are undervalued and desperately needed for change within ourselves and within our culture. The anima needs to be re-claimed and empowered – perhaps with a little “attitude.”
The flowing energy of the anima is often invisible and is known primarily through synchronicity, intuition, soul urges, inner knowing and love. It is expressed outwardly through our actions, words, artistic creations and business manifestos (animus)
6. There is an urgency today that calls for a balance between the feminine and the masculine. In order to create balance there needs to be an honoring of both.
The space, or the field, between the gifts of the feminine (creativity, intuition, empathy and collaboration) and the gifts of the masculine (action, linear thinking, strategy and analysis) has historically been a place of struggle and conflict – especially when one mode of being is favored over the other. We need both! The feminine allows us to be collaborative and creative. The masculine allows us to make it real and visible in the world where it can have an impact. Both are in service.
Most often one type of energy or way of being is favored over the other and new attention needs to be applied to the one is out of balance or denied. Which way of being is your default? What ways of being do you deny?
7. If you set the intention and ask for guidance – you will get it.
It’s not always easy to trust what you can’t see i.e. creative impulses and intuition however they are like jet fuel in your business tank.
8. TIME and SPACE are essential for creativity to flourish.
Most people value productivity first and don’t give themselves sufficient time and space to allow creative ideas to surface and evolve. There is always that sense of urgency driving things. While deadlines can be helpful, many people stop the creative process prematurely. Every product or program idea I’ve had gets better when there is breathing room and an invitation for creative play and experimentation. It’s this time and space that will allow us to break the barriers, create innovation and envision a new world.
9. We all get stuck or run up against obstacles from time to time. It DOES NOT mean we are on the wrong path! It may simply mean we need to reach out for a little help.
Too often, fear is the culprit that gets us stalled or even paralyzed. We fear alienating others, we fear challenging the status quo (internal and external) we fear seeing our missteps or becoming aware of the need to change course. Scary stuff! I Know that you are bigger than your fear and you don’t have to bump up against these things alone. Reach out and ask for help. You are a bright light and the world needs you to shine as brightly as you can.
10. We each have gifts and unique wisdom to share – too often we have blinders on and can’t see our gifts. It is time to take the blinders off.
Many years ago I had a channeled session in which the “entity” said; “You are like Pegasus with blinders on. Just because you can’t see your wings, doesn’t mean you don’t have them.” Wow- what a powerful metaphor, still meaningful today.
We all have blinders on in some way or another. For some reason it is hard for most of us to fully see and own our own unique gifts. Maybe you view it as selfish or perhaps a teacher said you weren’t good enough or society’s baggage got the better of you. Whatever the reason for your blinders – it’s time to do the internal work to take them off and see your glorious wings. We all need to reclaim those lost parts of ourselves courageously and deliberately for the world to be whole.
11. You need to tend to you first. In order to create from fullness rather than scarcity, lack and urgency, we must first nurture ourselves, attending to mind, body and spirit. Nurturing ourselves includes nurturing our ideas and our business visions. Nurturing allows us to create from fullness, to be more attuned to the needs of others and to respond more deeply.
Most of us are pretty good at nurturing those we love, however we often leave ourselves out of the equation. It is essential to bring those same nurturing skills and instincts to ourselves, our ideas and our businesses. Imagine the impact of creating from fullness instead of depletion, scarcity and urgency.
What would it look like for you to fiercely nurture yourself (mind, body and spirit)? To nurture your ideas? To nurture your energy? to nurture your dreams? To nurture your business? I believe that women in particular fear that nurturing themselves will detract from nurturing others. In truth, nurturing yourself allows you to nurture others more fully and avoid burn-out and resentment.
12. It takes courage to take a stand, to be true to our internal knowing and let ourselves be seen in a powerful way.
Based on a study out of Harvard, women in particular shy away from visible positions of power and prefer to work behind the scenes. I believe women need to redefine power in a way that honors the gifts of the feminine; empathy, collaboration, creativity, intuition. We also need to support and mentor each other to step into the light. Not for ego gratification but because “the message” – whatever your message is – needs to be heard.
What’s the message you have that needs to be heard? We need your voice!