Is stillness a reward for hard work or is it the necessary precursor to creativity? Keep reading to find out.

I spent much of last week battling writer’s block. Attempting to push through and persevere each time I sat down to put pen to page. I was struggling to come up with a topic for this post, and yet each time I went to write, I’d receive the message: “Create space to create.” 

I resisted. “No, shh. I need to write. I need to persevere. I need to show up and be a pro.” 

I’ve long been a believer that inspiration shows up for us once we consistently show up for it. I worried I’d miss the wave of inspiration if I took time for stillness during a workday.

I pushed on, depleted and exhausted with little to show for it by the time Friday rolled around.

That morning, I sat down to will myself to write yet again and heard the same message.

“Create space to create!” This time a bit more forceful and commanding.

At that moment, a wave of energy ran through me as I realized that the week-long directive had been intended both for me personally and also for you. 

I was being offered the remedy to quell my writer’s block and the topic for this post. 

It got me thinking about how we—broadly speaking—appreciate the value of downtime and stillness, eternally discussing the importance of taking time away. And yet we glorify busyness in the next breath. 

Perhaps it’s because we continue to equate stillness with reward. Stillness, we believe, is the desired retreat reserved for the end of a grueling battle to prove our worthiness to the world. 

We have such an addiction to busyness that even our attempts to rescue ourselves from its perils are wrought with more of its same depleting message: I’m deserving of stillness… once I’ve proven myself.

Stillness is now at least in the equation, but it’s the summative outcome of it rather than a formative part of it.

Hard Work + Desired Outcome = Stillness Earned

Perhaps we’ve gotten it wrong—backwards, actually. Is stillness a reward for hard work or is it the necessary precursor to creativity?

Should the equation actually be:

Aware Stillness + Intentional Action = Desired Outcome

FORCEFUL + CONTROLLING V. EASEFUL + TRUSTING

I’d been so focused on one narrow definition of “showing up” to work last week—an output-only description—that I’d shut out all others. In the process, I’d also pinched off the divine connection to my messages.

I was being reminded that showing up and taking action can look forceful and pointed, yes, but it can also look easeful and open. 

In other words...

We can show up with a controlling energy, sitting down and attempting to yank creativity from our minds, willing inspiration to strike. (Forceful + Controlling) 

-OR-

We can show up with an uncertain yet trusting energy, intentionally creating space via stillness first so that we’re able to open to the guided wisdom of the Universe. (Easeful + Trusting)

Both approaches involve showing up for our most important work. 

The difference is that the forceful + controlling approach encourages us to go it alone, whereas the easeful + trusting approach creates the internal space needed to welcome in the co-creative support of universal intelligence.

Forceful + controlling involves action, action, action. Evaluating our worth by the number of to-do’s we’ve checked off our list. 

Easeful + trusting involves leveraging the power of intentional stillness to call in Universal guidance first and then acting on that guidance when the time is right. In the process, we make peace with uncertainty and in that peace-making, we create even more internal space.

Both approaches will eventually result in some version of our desired outcome but each has an entirely different cost-benefit profile (and only one is divinely guided).

INTERNAL SPACE YIELDS DIVINELY GUIDED EXTERNAL CREATION

“Stillness is the first requirement for manifesting your desires, because in stillness lies your connection to the field of pure potentiality that can orchestrate an infinity of details for you.” —Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

When our minds are constantly moving, pushing, forcing, distracting, yammering on… 

Well, it’s exceedingly challenging to hear the whispers of inspiration and universal creativity through all that noise.

“...if your mind is like a turbulent ocean, you could throw the Empire State Building into it, and you wouldn’t notice a thing.” —Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success*

And yet when the mind is totally stilled, we’ll notice the ripples emitted by even the tiniest of pebbles. 

When we take time to intentionally still ourselves (as opposed to forcing movement in an inflexible direction in honor of busyness), we’re able to hear our most important messages. These messages are abundantly rich with creative guidance and wisdom, and we can use them to create externally with meaning, impact, and unencumbered potential.

In stillness we reunite with the pure potential of our being and match up with the infinite wisdom of the Universe that wishes to make itself manifest. In other words, we create space for co-creation to occur.

HOW TO INTENTIONALLY CREATE INTERNAL SPACE

“It is that state of pure awareness, that silent space between thoughts, that inner stillness that connects you to true power.” —Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success*

As synchronicity would have it, just as I finally (and cautiously) embraced the message of Create Space to Create, its importance was confirmed with undeniable clarity.

Friday afternoon, I received Deepak Chopra’s The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success in the mail—a book I’d ordered earlier in the week in a moment of (apparently) divinely intended internet shopping distraction.

I cracked open the petite book Friday evening, intending to read just a few pages before bed, and found myself nearing the book’s completion just an hour later.

In the first chapter, Deepak highlights The Law of Pure Potentiality. The law posits that the source of all creation is pure consciousness or pure potentiality seeking expression from the unmanifest to the manifest. He notes that in realizing that our true Self is one of pure potentiality (infinite consciousness), “...we align with the power that manifests everything in the universe.”

Deepak outlines three simple, stillness-based practices to create internal space and access the field of pure potentiality (i.e., infinite creativity): silence, meditation, and non-judgment (with an optional fourth of time in nature).

Silence: Regular time to Be while withdrawing from the activity of speech and all other thought-generating or awareness-numbing activities, such as watching television, perusing the internet, listening to the radio, reading, etc. In other words, mini and perhaps even daily dopamine resets. 

Meditation: Daily meditation. For the sake of creating internal stillness, Deepak suggests 30 minutes of meditation twice a day—once in the morning, once in the evening.

Non-Judgment: Deepak reminds us of the woeful repercussions of judgment when it comes to creativity, stating: “When you are constantly evaluating, classifying, labeling, analyzing, you create a lot of turbulence in your internal dialogue. This turbulence constricts the flow of energy between you and the field of pure potentiality.” He notes that simply setting the daily intention of non-judgment can create vast amounts of internal space.

In addition to the above practices, take note of the activities and actions that create turbulence within you and engage in those activities less frequently or release them altogether. In other words, do (or don’t do) whatever is necessary to still the waters of your mind.

For example…

About two months ago, I noticed with greater clarity than ever before that the more time I spent on social media, the more turbulent my mind became with unwanted noise. The more I consumed, the bigger the waves of comparison, judgment, self-doubt, and people-pleasing became. And the less I was able to hear my own messages and guidance. Because of this, I now abstain from all social media at least one day a week, sometimes even two. When I do choose to engage with it, I’m highly selective and cautious about what I consume. I’m on and off as quickly as possible. I go in with a goal, post what I've intended to post, and reply to messages while only minimally consuming the content that others are sharing. As soon as I notice myself mindlessly scrolling, I pause, close out, and move on with my day.

Don’t be afraid to go against the grain of what is conventional or popular if you’re receiving the guidance to do so. Trust yourself and know that the more you listen to and take action on the messages you’re receiving, the more clearly you’ll hear your messages and the more you’ll be guided into alignment with your *truest* self—your essence. ✨ 

KEY TAKEAWAY

All that’s required of us to access the infinite creative wisdom of all consciousness is to engage in daily acts of space-creating stillness. Stillness within yields easeful, meaningful, highly creative movement without.

Stillness is not a reward of creation, it’s a necessary part of its process.

INTUITIVE MESSAGE

As synchronicity would also have it, I discovered the following snippets from an intuitive writing session on August 8th, 2020 while putting the final edits on this post. Our messages are always reminding us of what we need to know, whether for this moment in time or for some future moment. When I share them here, know that these messages are also for you.

Let down your guard. Be here and be still. Be within before you be without and hold space to know that this is where you’re supposed to be.

Light. Love. Make room. For the unfolding of what is in your heart. There is not to be judgment about the way it unfolds or a manipulation or contorting of the truth that resides within for the sake of others’ perceptions. For to do so would corrupt and distort the message of purity that resides within YOU. Each has a message to share, but each is required to be so bold, so brave, so connected, and illuminated as to allow the message to free itself unbridled by the confounding circumstances of this earthly world. For to move into alignment with the message is to move into alignment with all that is and all that has always been.

Hold space for all anew but do not entangle yourself with the how. If you hold space, create space, the how will unfold in perpetuity before you without a needing to declare or decree that which are the specifications that cannot be specified. In forcing the specifications, the meaning is lost. 

INTENTION

I create internal space through stillness so that I can create externally through divinely guided action.

INTUITIVE WRITING PROMPT

Write to your intuition* (higher self) to answer the following questions:

How can daily stillness be of value to me? What fears do I have surrounding stillness? What wisdom can you offer to allow me to begin to release these fears? What activities or actions are causing turbulence within my mind? What can I do (or not do) to calm the waters of my mind?

*If you’re unsure how to write to your intuition, read this post to learn how to access your intuition in 5 easy steps.

RESOURCE

Book: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success* by Deepak Chopra

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