Musing #41: Creativity is your only way out.
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Musing #41: Creativity is your only way out.
Consume less and create more!
Happy Sunday folks. Welcome to the new subscribers, and thank you to the OGs who are still here with me. I am raising some money to print the book and produce Season 3 of the Gumpcast.
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Musing #41: Creativity is your only way out.
You have built a career or a business. You have improved your health, built habits, learned new technologies, invested your money, and got more time in nature.
But something is still missing.
It is a deep, sinking feeling that your humanity is lacking something.
This, my friend, is a tsunami of creativity waiting to be unleashed within you.
It wants to express its many waves into the world, through you.
But you have no avenue for it.
Somewhere along the way, you have lost the basic function of critical thinking and creating something based on how you perceive the world.
Life has many priorities, and creativity is not one of them.
First you gotta make money. Right?
Then you have to maintain relationships, and if you are lucky, you might go for occasional walks or hit the gym.
But that feeling continues to nag deep down inside of you.
And I promise you, it will never go away.
It is a dragon. It breathes fire. You have stuffed its mouth with your excuses. The fire burns inwardly and it hurts.
You can buy a guitar and never play it.
You have an idea for a blog, but you never write it.
You want to take acting classes but never find time for it.
Well, get ready, because the time has come.
Destroy your excuses and slay the fucking dragon
I am about to destroy your excuses.
I’ve had to destroy mine with Steven Pressfield’s War of Art and Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Read them. Now.
I’ve had to learn about how to approach creativity from the greats: Rick Rubin, Murukami and Stephen King.
Writing has become my best friend. It is my most consistent habit. Over the past four years, it has seen me lose a job, lose a partner, and lose very close friends.
But my writing continues.
My relationship with writing grows no matter what happens.
I love writing, and it certainly loves me back.
It is what wants to happen through me.
What wants to happen through you?
When did we stop doing the things we long for?
Over time, our society has gone from valuing creativity above all to valuing financial wealth and consumerism.
This is how most of us express ourselves now; The color of our car, the background image of our phone, the brand of whiskey we drink, the profile picture we have, and the sticker we put on our water bottle.
We desperately try to paint the little pieces that we own.
Consumption has replaced our need to be creative.
Instead, it has amplified our need to make money.
With that, it has amplified our demons.
It has exaggerated our vanities.
There is only one way out: Consume less, and create more.
That is your ticket to fulfillment. You are a creator. You are a creative. The longer you take to come to terms with that, the longer your demons will haunt you.
You do not have to do it professionally, but you have to do it seriously.
And if you do, you will become more content than 90% of those out there, lost in the story of consumption.
Prepare for lift off…
You are constantly creating anyway. It is just a matter of noticing what you create in this world.
Life hands us trauma at every stage, there is no running away from that.
What we do with this trauma, though, defines who we are.
When I got laid off, I went on a voyage and attended a men’s circle that led me to write my first novel.
When I decided to get a divorce, I poured my heart out in a series of poems that became my first book/poetry collection.
Why do you think there are so many songs about love and heartbreak?
It is not because heartbreak sells perse.
We pay good money to see those who are free to create, and express on our behalf.
It is safer for us that way.
Creators say what we don’t have the courage to say, and feel what we dare not feel.
What happens when we do not create?
We eat copious amounts of food.
We consume drugs.
We drink alcohol.
We project our anguish onto others.
We blame those around us.
We hate others.
We build resentment.
Trauma is a festering tumor in our bodies and somas, and creativity is the surgery that excises it.
It does that through transmutation.
The trauma is transmuted into a creative output. That output, if it is any good, allows others to process their own trauma.
When a creative project is complete, new cells can grow, and you can be ready for the next creation (and for being hurt again).
When we do not create, we become blocked from that evolution.
We can’t climb the next hill, or meet the next person, or build our new self when we are stuck holding on to the past.
Creativity is your pain unleashed.
Creativity is your inner child unburdened.
Creativity is your optimal state.
Creativity is why you are here.
Yes, YOU!
Stop saying that you ‘are not creative’. Bullshit!
You are a creator.
You either create frustration, or you create art.
You can create hate, or you can create beauty.
You can create more pain, or you can make the world a little more pleasant.
When you create, you unbox your trauma and your inner demons, and release them back into the world.
You transform your inner pain, jealousy, lust, anguish, rejection, suffering into the soil.
From that soil, a flower will bud. That flower will help them see truth and beauty in the world. It will help them deal with their own suffering.
They see their pain in yours.
And you will be lighter, you will be happier, and you will be healthier.
Once you express yourself, your creativity will exude into all aspects of life.
You will bring it into your work meetings, you will bring it into your nature walks, and you will bring it into your conversations with friends.
It will change your perspective.
It will improve your relationships.
It will attract those who you yearn to be around.
It will help you feel seen and heard regardless of who listens.
The nagging emptiness will become a well of ideas.
My grandfather always said: Your friends will be gone, your job will be gone, your partner will be gone, and all you will have left is your hobby.
He was right.
You need to create now.
Go make something out of nothing.
Doodle, write a letter, wrap a gift or drum on the table.
Creativity is your ticket to fulfillment.
Do it.
Now.
Bye,
Omar
✌️
PS: Stay tuned for ten proven methods to boost your creativity on Wednesday.
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