Explore the 26 building blocks of the creative life. These are the foundations of all creative endeavors, the creativity alphabet.
Creativity Alphabet
audience: Creative impulses can only truly be satisfied if they can be shared with others. You may have an audience of one, but that connection is vital and can be enough.beauty: You will go on a journey to explore and create beauty. You will discover universal truths of beauty, but the magical part is that you will create your unique expression of beauty. This will help expand (and create!) the world.clarion: We are all called to create in this world. If we are not paying attention, that call might be faint and weak. If we ignore it, it gets louder and more shrill.discomfort: If you seek out only the safe and comfortable in this world, you will not reach your potential and you will not truly feel satisfied.effluent: Creative energy flows; it is creative so it is dynamic. It is energy so it has to keep moving. Let this force take you to unexpected places.failure: Failure is unavoidable in the creative, but it is more than that: it is part of the process, without mistakes and let downs and explosions things could not and would not be made.grindstone: The challenges can seem like the thing, the reason you keep going. They really are the benchmarks along the path of creation.habits: In creative terms, structure is freedom and discipline is salvation. This paradox is the biggest truth. Boundaries allow for creativity, for forms to be created within them.invocation: You may never figure out the source of your creations or of your talents. It is enough to acknowledge that it comes from somewhere, and that this benevolent force can be called on. It will show up if you are ready and open to it.judgment: Your work is not you. It is an expression o fyou and your mission and of the greater spirit of the universe. When you complete and let go of it, you don’t control it. Likewise, you are not your audience, and you cannot control its reaction to your work. You must learn to let go of the attachments to both.kismet: You can call the things you cannot control whatever you want: fate, kismet, tests, obstacles. The important thing is to recognize they will never go away. They teach you, they shape you, they help you.lodestar: The focal point of your existence and your creativity can keep you motivated, keep you sane and keep you from being pulled away from your calling.muse: We think of our muse as a person, a place, an idea, something external to us that awakens us and ignites our passion. The real secret is that as creatives we create our muse as much as we create our work.numen: The essence of you is your numen. It is the thing that makes you unique, and human, and mystical. Your numen is your passion and your reason for living and creating.outside: Creatives tend to see and feel themselves as outsiders. But if you only think of yourself as separate, your creativity will lack the spark of life and connection.purge: The world is infinite, and so are the possibilities for what you can create. the process of shaping those possibilities into your accomplishments is the real art.question: If were satisfied with the way things are, you would not be creative. You would have nothing to contribute to the world. You could not make things better or more beautiful. Always ask how it could be improved.rhythm: Everyone and everything moves at its own pace and pattern. Learn to see these patterns and you will master the universe.surprise: Life is full of surprises. Art is full of surprises. We are inspired and challenged when things are not the way we thought they were.tribune: Find the people who need and appreciate what you have to offer. Experiment to learn how to reach those people. As you build that tribune, make it strong and with the same integrity you find within yourself.umbra: Do you fear the unknown, the shadows? Some mysteries will never be known, and these are the parts of life that are most useful to the creative.vulnerable: You must be human to be creative, to love, to appreciate beauty. Learn to see the beauty in imperfection. Learn to live with incapability of weakness.work: Some people see work as a necessary evil, a sort of Biblical curse for our humanity. Learn to see it for what it can be: the tool for learning, for satisfaction and for spreading joy.xystus: In Ancient Greece, a xystus was a place where the athletes could meet to exercise and fellowship in bad weather. This covered, protected place is still needed for anyone wishing to create beauty. Find like-minded people and build connections with them.yardstick: We seem born with an instinct to compare ourselves with others. Far more helpful is comparing yourself to where you were and where you want to go.zig zag: Whatever the form of your creative expression, if you are really tapping into it, it won’t be predictable. Both the journey and the outcome will be hard to plot. YOu think you have been blocked or have wandered far off track only to realize you were right where you were supposed to be all along.
