The Cycles of Creativity

The whole of nature itself is an ebb and flow - the tides, the seasons, the breathing of all living creatures.

Just as the earth cycles through day & night, our creativity ebbs and flows within a cycle. Energy rises in a hurry to its zenith, quickening, birth, and then enters the beginning of entropy and decline and death. It is this cycle that, in its purity at the center of the psyche, accounts for all the creative acts of the world.

At the crest of the creative cycle, we experience inspiration, empowerment, energy, and passion. Passion is ignited or flamed when you see something – a piece of art, a movie, a sunset – that deeply stirs your soul. When you experience beauty, connection, and the sacred, you experience a surge of life which is the beginning of the creative impulse.

When you’re inspired and all cylinders are clicking, there comes a feeling of empowerment that is extremely satisfying and rewarding. The energy is fueled by a continuous injection of inspiration and light-bulb moments where our art, writing, or music comes to a zenith. It’s euphoric and the flow of production seems to be happening automatically. These are the ‘flow’ moments which compel us to create, when we are at the height of our capabilities and feel the full force of life surging through us.

This cycle inevitably, unfortunately, must come to an end and lend itself to its opposing side – entropy, decline, and death. On this side of the creative cycle, we experience what many people generally refer to as ‘creative block’.

A smidgeon of disillusionment may begin to crawl into the process and we begin to ask ourselves, “why am I doing this?” Disenchantment may begin to overtake our excitement and overshadow the former sense of inspiration and empowerment. Where there was once life, vibrancy, and intensity, there is now dullness, emptiness, and despair over having hit a wall.

With the light is the dark. With yin, there is yang. Such is the way of life.

Know this – after winter, spring always comes. When we enter into a spectrum of entropy and decline in our work, we are merely entering a ‘silent’ phase where the creative forces within our souls have gone underground to cultivate new creative forms to be expressed. This is the time where something new is germinating, not yet born, but in the process of becoming so. At this time, it is most wise to sit, be still, and wait. The creative energy will flow underground and disappears for a time, only to re-emerge when the time is right.

Being aware of where you are in the creative cycle can be helpful in several ways. If you know that you are on the ‘entropy’ end of the cycle, you can adjust the goals and expectations you hold for yourself. Know that your creative output may be minimal at this time.

Know that to try and force it will only lead to excessive frustration, discouragement, disappointment.

On the other end of the spectrum, if you are at the height of your creative cycle, clear your schedule and make as much time as you can to engage in the creative process. Ride the wave!

The universe operates through a series of waves and oscillations. There is an innate, organic, and cyclical nature to the creative life.

Harmonizing and attuning ourselves to our own creative rhythms maximizes our health, energy, creative output, and well-being.