Creativity Unzipped – Jan Phillips

People have been trying to shape your thoughts since the day you were born. Well-intentioned parents, teachers, clergy and coaches have tried their best to fashion you in their image, to keep you from standing too close to the edge, to keep you safe and on a well-worn path. Who in your life encouraged you to find your authentic voice, to identify your own spiritual path, or to express yourself creatively? It doesn’t matter who or what is to blame for our shyness in the matter, but it does matter that we explore our leanings and find ways to express what is most uniquely ours: our thoughts, our values, our visions.

In this module, you’ll:

• Redefine creativity so you understand your role and birthright as a creator
• Explore different pathways to self-expression and see what brings the most joy
• Clarify the distinction between religion and spirituality and find a path that brings you vitality and value
• Discover what’s behind places where you have a “lack of inspiration” and how to move beyond it
• Explore the components of creativity and discover where they dwell inside you
• Get a clear picture of how your thoughts create your reality

Many people are seeking enlightenment, but the mystics refer to the process as one of “subtraction, not addition.” We do not have to learn things to become enlightened. We have to drop our illusions and return to our natural state of knowing. Think of it like this: we were all born with the radiance of a 100-watt bulb. As we go through life, our radiance diminishes as we accumulate bad ideas, debris and damage from others’ bad ideas, and dirt and grime from the culture at large. Mindfulness is the practice of dusting off our light bulb. It’s how we stay radiant, remain peaceful and stay rooted in our wisdom.

In this module, you’ll:

• Identify behaviors that cause you to feel calm and peaceful
• Explore different approaches to mindfulness that work for different personalities
• Discover how a small time commitment can lead to huge changes in wellbeing
• Read the words of the mystics on the importance of silence and solitude
• Establish your own guidelines and rules for a committed practice
• Receive inspiration from some before-and-after stories about mindfulness practice

When you tell the truth about how you feel, what you love or what you fear, you’re creating an opening for someone to trust you. When you dare to share something you’ve made, written, cooked or cultivated, you’re giving others permission to do the same. The things we create — from our lives to our relationships to our works of art — heal us as we create them, and then go on to heal others with their energy and their loveliness.

In this module, you’ll:

• Explore the many ways we create all day long though we might not feel “creative”
• Discover the relationship between creativity and wellbeing
• Look back at your childhood to recall some of your early creations and see if they have a message for you
• Share some works of art (books, movies, stories, etc.) that had a lasting impact on you
• Discuss art as it relates to the social practice movement and share about its impact
• Decide what you’d share if you were to deliver a 15-minute talk to a group of high school graduates

Social science research shows that the more diversity there is in a group, the more collective creative genius resides in that group. A group of 10 white men is far less creative than a group of 10 women and men from many cultures, religions and political inclinations. The same is true in our lives. Social psychologist Anthony DeMello said, “The greatest thing you can do for your friends is to challenge their ideas.” It may not be easy, but it’s true. According to French poet Charles Baudelaire, the quality of true genius is the ability to hold two contradictory thoughts in your mind at the same time without losing your mind.

In this module, you’ll:

• Experience the transcendence of duality by re-pairing some opposites and see what it feels like
• Understand how to distinguish original thoughts from inherited thoughts
• Discover how to stop comparing yourself to others
• See what the scientists and mystics have to say about diversity
• Inquire into your own life to assess your diversity index
• Reflect on some life experiences that involve interactions with “the other”

By now, we are understanding the many ways we create the events of our lives. With the help of a short guided meditation, we’ll identify the pivotal experiences of our lives and see what wisdom we’ve acquired because of them. We’ll explore the meaning and value of story-spinning and come to recognize when we are at the true end of each story.

In this module, you’ll:

• Distill and harvest the pivotal experiences of your life
• Discover the difference between something happening “to” you and “through” you
• Identify the rules of great storytelling
• Guide you to evolve yourself consciously by reclaiming the events of your life
• Turn your electromagnetic field into a more powerful force for good
• Experience the power and healing component of narrative medicine

Scientific research has identified desire as a powerful agent in creativity. While many of us learned that desire was more a vice than a virtue, we now know better. In a scientific experiment, a group of baby chicks who were afraid of the dark huddled together in a corner of the room where a robot, programmed for random movements, entered carrying a lighted candle. Though programmed absolutely to move in random directions, the experimenters observed the robot spending an inordinate amount of time in the vicinity of the chicks. The power of their desire for the light superseded the programming the robot was given. With focus, intention and desire, all things are possible.

In this module, you’ll:

• Inquire within and see what you truly desire
• Merge your heart’s desire with what breaks your heart to see what new synthesis comes from that union
• Understand the way that reality proceeds from the union of your thoughts and desires
• Be introduced to amazing experiments and discoveries that reveal the science behind the magic of the power of mind
• Discover how to tone your mindfulness muscles and create what you are longing for

Every one of us is an energetic, spiritual force in the world. We cause ripples in the invisible energy field. We cause changes in people’s thoughts. We cause emotions to rise up, memories to stir, feelings to come alive. The more consciousness we bring to the matter, the more laser-like our effect. Our creations are rooted in our spiritual values and commitments. They are the living expressions of our faith.

In this module, you’ll:

• Identify and share the playing fields of your creativity
• Explore three things you know because of your life’s experience
• Identify one belief you hold and tell the story behind it
• Discover how to replace outmoded inherited beliefs with original thoughts
• Discern and identify your “ultimate commitments” with the help of a creative exercise
• Improve your skills in knowing your truth and speaking it clearly