Creativity & Self-Expression

This is a guided meditation in which we explore creativity and self-expression using music and painting (Visualization). It is an unbelievably fun time! We're exploring what can come about when creativity takes center stage. Hope you enjoy!

Please note: This track was recorded live and may contain background noises.

Transcript

On this computer.

All right,

Cool.

So this meditation is about creativity and self-expression.

And I've sort of been pondering that this week of how that can show up in meditation.

And just for the fun of it,

This morning I decided to be a little creative and I wrote a little half song for you guys.

Here's my guitar right here.

And basically just exploring what needed to happen in order for creativity to come about.

I have an unfair advantage.

I have been playing guitar for seven years or so.

I've been,

I just play for fun as well.

But just out of the blue decided what happens when it just sort of comes up.

So I'll play you a little bit of that just to kick it off and wait for people to come in.

I've got them up.

I can.

.

.

And let's see what I got so far.

I'll be able to guess you like.

Let me.

.

.

I love you all.

I'm gonna mute everyone for a second.

You're free to unmute yourself,

But there was just like some feedback coming in.

["I Love You All"] ["I Love You All"] ["I Love You All"] ["I Love You All"] ["I Love You All"] Yay.

Nice.

You came up with that this morning?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I wrote that in like 20 minutes less.

And this is not like a.

.

.

Thank you for the claps.

I saw Kenzie that.

.

.

This is not me trying to pat my back of how good I can be a guitarist sometimes,

But it was really an exploration of what needed to come about for that to happen.

I wrote that thing about 15 minutes as soon as I woke up.

I was telling the truth.

My phone is not a good phone right now,

And it'll lie to me and say what the battery percentage is,

And I decided to write a song about it.

And that's,

It's not finished.

I might keep going along with it,

But it was more of an exercise,

Truthfully.

And what I found are a few things.

I wonder if my journal is here.

Might be misplaced.

So I found that one of the things I needed in order to create and to express was to see where it would take me,

To see where the song would take me or whatever I was working on and creating would take me.

It's like being lost in the field or lost in the town and people giving you clues or clues are sort of strewn around trying to get to this amazing thing.

You don't know exactly what it is,

But it's sort of the fun in finding those clues to get to the end of what you're looking for.

I remember when I was in I-Thing school,

There was this masterclass where someone said,

It's like,

You know what's there.

You know what you're trying to create,

Even if it's just a little thing.

Like if you're writing a story and you're just like,

There's a house.

You know?

And then using that small detail or small stepping stone and seeing where it goes.

It also,

I also needed to be in a space where I wasn't judging myself.

And I wasn't immediately comparing or saying that's not good enough,

But seeing where the ideas went and sort of dropping more into discernment and intuition than judgment and self comparing and deeper,

Less effectual kind of judgment.

I also needed to obviously be present in what I was doing and feeling and thinking.

I happened to wake up and immediately after listening to one of my songs,

I just got up and started playing.

Also for me,

A couple of days ago,

Maybe three days ago,

I actually started learning another person's song that I found felt good to me.

And I think just sort of dropping into that mode also aided in me getting into this sort of space.

You're not supposed to remember any of this by the way.

This is just what I have found in terms of creativity.

If you'd like to write it down,

You can,

But we're just gonna invite some of this into our meditation with it.

And so yeah,

Basically if you,

Like too long,

Didn't read,

Creativity requires an openness of heart,

Of mind for things to drop in,

Allowing things to come into place of not judging or comparing because if you do that,

You'll just be stuck and you can't go anywhere.

And not to judge whatever emotions might be there as well,

Just because there is a negative emotion like sadness or anger or whatever.

And if you're listening to the audio,

I'm putting my hands in air quotes when I say negative.

It is a part of you trying to express itself and you can do that in a variety of mediums.

But to not shut down the emotion,

But to let it flow out,

Whatever it is.

You don't have to be sad to make music,

You don't have to be happy to make music.

You can be confused writing music and that's kind of what we're gonna get into today.

But I just wanna get some feedback.

Does everyone here like music?

I hope so,

Cause I played you some.

No,

I didn't.

John hates music,

Yeah.

I know,

Can't stand it.

That's why I play it for him every time I get a chance.

And I hope people here also like painting,

Cause that's what we're gonna do in our brain,

In our mind.

It's gonna be fun.

Take me one string and running with it.

Woo,

Hey,

Love your voice.

Thank you.

I love my voice too.

Oh yeah,

Fatima.

Oh,

Sounds great.

So I was thinking about Monica.

All right,

Cool.

Well,

Without further ado,

This is gonna be a fun time.

Let's all close our eyes,

Get nice and settled into a seated or lying position.

Shaking around,

Stretching,

Whatever we have to do.

Doing a wacky dance if you need to,

And then sitting down.

And inviting a gentle deep breath in to the nose,

Down to the belly.

And exhaling,

Sighing out through the mouth.

Inhaling through the nose.

Exhaling through the mouth.

And we're gonna spend the first few moments of this meditation with our hands.

And the moments of this meditation,

Really just coming to know,

Knowing what's going on,

What's going on in this brain of ours.

A lot of times when I'm writing songs,

I realize,

Oh,

I've already heard that before.

That's a song I know.

And sort of in a similar way,

Things can sort of leak out of us creatively or otherwise,

That we were carrying around.

So just for a moment,

Simply sitting,

Being in this chair,

Being on this floor or cushion,

And with a sense of discernment,

Not judgment,

Just noting whatever comes in.

You can note it how we did in the previous meditation,

Where we would say whatever it is that's coming through,

Or if you find that your focus is steady enough,

You can simply just watch it arise and fall,

Being sure to let it fall and move on to the next thought if it comes,

And if not just resting in the space.

Maybe there's a song playing in your head.

Maybe you're still thinking about work or what you're going to do after this.

Maybe you're thinking about pie.

Maybe you're thinking about pie.

Again,

Just inviting a calm curiosity into the mix and seeing the emotions,

Thoughts,

And otherwise other sensations come into play,

Be there for a moment,

And then pass on to the next.

I will return shortly.

I'm just going to go get something for this meditation,

But continue this process for a moment.

I'm just going to go get something for this meditation,

But continue this process for a moment.

I'm just going to go get something for this meditation,

But continue this process for a moment.

Great.

And before we continue on,

I just want you to do a quick overview of this body and see if there's any attention,

I mean,

Any tension that has arisen in the past few minutes or so.

And if you can find a way to let that go,

Maybe imagining the body as a very heavy lump of clay dropping into an ocean,

Finding if this posture works for you.

And still with the eyes closed,

I'd like you to put yourself in a space that is familiar to you,

Perhaps,

Where you find that you can easily be creative,

Where maybe most of your creativity occurs.

This can be your bedroom with an open window,

Maybe out in the wilderness,

Late at night with candles or a fire.

Maybe this is the art studio.

Maybe it's a little bit of a maybe this is the art studio,

Maybe a part of your office or college you used to work in.

Wherever it is,

A place that inspires openness of heart,

A place where you can be kind to yourself and receptive.

And in front of you,

There is a canvas,

An empty blank canvas,

Either completely white or completely black,

And next to the canvas is a Bluetooth speaker and your phone,

Or it could even be a record player and a series of records.

And so what we're going to do is,

Because next to this canvas,

Of course,

Is any color of paint you could ever want in the world.

What we're going to do is we're going to drop into different states of mind,

Different emotions.

As we drop into them,

Seeing what songs are associated with that in our mind and seeing what it is we might paint that's inspired by this emotion.

So of course,

Of course,

Of course,

There are no rules.

There are only guidelines,

And you are free to stray one way or another.

But first,

We'll bring into our mind confusion.

First,

Feeling what confusion feels like in the body,

Maybe remembering a time we were confused.

Is confusion a combination of different emotions?

And if you happen to know a song that embodies confusion quite well for you,

You may put it on on the record player or play it on your phone in this imaginary Bluetooth experience.

It could be a giddy,

Sort of happy confusion.

It could also be deeply frustrated and multilayered.

Once you have chosen the song,

If one comes up,

Just letting it play in the back of your mind as you pick up a paintbrush and on your own time and on your own skill,

Choosing to dip into whatever colors come around and seeing what happens when you brushstroke against the canvas.

Are you inspired to create an abstract piece,

Trying to place a feeling onto canvas with many colors or simply one?

Are you inspired to take the liberty to become a multifaceted artist being able to perfectly paint a picture of a fish,

Perhaps,

Or a house or two lovers or even something even more greatly creative?

How does confusion express itself on this canvas,

In this brush,

Through this song?

And if the mind ever becomes lost,

Just bring yourself back to the anchor point of your hand against the brush,

The brush against the canvas,

Remembering the environment that you are in.

And in five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Dropping our brushes,

Backing away,

Seeing what we have created so far.

What do you see in front of you?

Does it surprise you?

Does it make you smile?

And moving on to a fresh canvas,

Now imagining complete happiness,

Contentness,

Or content.

What song for you in this moment embodies happiness?

And looking at the paint before you,

What colors might you dip into to create,

To express this happiness on the canvas in front of you?

And again,

Like a child holding your hand as he or she pulls you through a field,

Allowing the creative experience to show you where it goes,

Not needing to know what the end result will be,

But just enjoying the journey.

Also,

Just because we're in a meditation doesn't mean that your song has to be all peaceful and slow moving.

You can play a metal song in your mind if you want to,

A pop song that's on the radio,

Something that's just been stuck in your head,

A favorite song of yours that makes you happy.

The paint doesn't have to be yellow.

It doesn't have to be bright,

Per se.

Everyone's version of happiness looks different.

So discovering what is it really for you right now?

And as you paint,

Can you see the parts of the brush stroke that run out because the paint brush is getting too dry?

Is there maybe a water cup that you can stir the paint brush in as you dip it back into whatever is in front of you and starting over?

Following up with the next stroke,

The next mode of self-expression.

And as you continue to paint with this hand,

With this body,

Just noticing how the emotion manifests itself into this body right now.

If you perhaps feel yourself smiling or a levity about you begin to arise.

And putting on the finishing touches of this work of art.

And five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Putting the paint brush down,

Stepping back and seeing what we've created as the music begins to fade down.

Are you satisfied?

Is the painting perhaps a bit unfinished?

Whatever is there,

Being grateful for that experience and moving on to a fresh canvas once again.

Now let's move into love.

A full unconditional love or the most unconditional love you have felt in this lifetime,

Whether it be between you and God or gods above.

A love between you and an art or a craft that you enjoy taking part in.

A love between you and family members or pets,

Even plants.

And slowly let go of the context of that love,

Wherever it was coming from,

And just drop into the feeling.

Maybe even placing a hand on your heart if you need to listen further.

And searching in your virtual library for a song that embodies full unconditional love to you in this moment.

And either putting it on the record player or choosing a song on your phone.

This can be a tender love,

A hard love,

A full embodied and open love.

As we reach for our paintbrush and look at our options of paint,

Choosing what color really comes up for us as a result of the feeling that is contained in this body,

In our heart.

And seeing where it takes us.

Seeing where our wrist takes us as it strokes across the canvas.

Seeing where the music takes us as every note follows the note before every drum kick or violin pole follows the next and the one before.

Not judging the experience,

Not needing it to be a certain way.

Not painting as a means of comparison or expectation.

But to feel and express for the sake of expressing.

Is your drawing as simple as a heart or is your painting as simple as a heart,

Rather?

Is it something abstract?

A mix of both?

Is it an animal that makes you feel loving,

Like a mockingjay or tiger,

An elephant?

Is it a drawing or a painting of you and your loved ones?

Or you doing the thing that you love most?

I don't know.

That's the fun of it,

Seeing where it takes us.

And just for fun,

I'm going to ask you,

Wherever you are in your creative process,

To choose a color that genuinely surprises you.

Something where you say,

Oh,

This doesn't go here at all.

This couldn't possibly be right.

Maybe it's purple and green or yellow and fuchsia.

Or maybe it's black,

Blue,

And brown.

Whatever it is for you.

Choosing one color,

One painting,

One paint to dip your brush in and really,

Truly listen and see where it takes you as you paint.

And then,

This color,

Join in and cause a shift in the overall energy of the painting.

Song still playing.

Hands still painting.

You're still in this space.

And in five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Stepping back.

Looking at what you've created.

And moving on to our final canvas.

This canvas will be the embodiment of something that's just recently been on our mind.

Maybe a realization that we've been holding.

Something that we might have been stressing out about or feeling,

Whether it's sadness or hurt,

Anger,

Pain,

Happiness,

Joy,

Love,

Patience.

Just something that drops into us today.

This can also be something from the first section of this meditation when we were just noticing what thoughts and emotions were coming through with an energy of non-judgment and acceptance.

Choosing just one.

And putting a record on the player if need be or playing a song if need be.

Maybe silence is enough music for you.

Maybe you'd like to hear rainforest sounds or ocean,

Whatever happens to be on the record or on your phone.

But again,

Maybe silence is enough right now.

But just as we've done before,

Dropping into how we feel in this body.

Just really happening,

Listening to see what's really there.

And picking up our brush,

Walking over to our fresh canvas,

Choosing a color for colors.

And seeing where the art takes us.

And how just feeling this hopeless Bingo I'm going to encourage you while you do this,

After every stroke of the brush,

Really being able to look at that stroke,

Admire it,

And then see what the next stroke will be.

Let us the brush sound as it strokes against the canvas.

Let us the brush sound as it strokes against the canvas.

Let us the brush sound as it strokes against the canvas.

And finally,

Stepping back in 5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Placing our brush down,

Noticing first what is on the canvas,

And second,

Noticing how we feel about what is on the canvas.

If it has surprised us,

If it is exactly as expected,

If it is finished or if there is more work to be done,

And on your own time,

Coming back into the space around you,

Your legs against this chair,

Or on the ground,

The sounds that are around you,

Coming back to my voice,

This room,

This virtual room,

And whenever you're ready,

Opening your eyes,

Coming to the end of this meditation.