Writing Salon Mistress Muses

The Mystery of Creativity

As an addendum to yesterday's post on creativity, I'd like to share with you this excerpt, which I love, from one of Eric's Maisel's many books, The Creativity Book:

Creativity is a mystery religion. An everyday creative person celebrates, honors, and lives with mystery. The mysteries of the universe can only be participated in, not solved, and when your creativity is pulled from you in the making of a song, an online business, a little sketch, or a large new invention, your response is not, "Well, I guess that settles the mystery of life!" Rather, it's "What a fine interlude that was, spent I-don't-know-where!" . . .

. . . Most people hate the idea that they've been dropped into an insoluble mystery. They want answers and assurances. They want to know God's plans and how many words make a novel. They want to know which clues should be considered and which clues discarded as they search for the meaning of life. They want to know who is more right: the priest, the scientist, or the entrepreneur. But not worrying about all of that is the better plan. The more rewarding path, which leads not to final answers but to a sense of having lived fully, is to create.

Creativity Classes for Writers

I've never been a follower of any organized religion. In fact, I believe that organized religion is at the root of most of the world's idiocy and evil. If I were to say that I worshipped anything in this life, it would be the life force. It would be the spirituality of CREATION/CREATIVITY in all its manifestations, from writing to mothering, cooking to painting, musical composition to gardening, entrepreneurial endeavors to interior decorating, fundraising to fashion flair.

But these are just a few of the obvious examples. REALLY, creativity is about innovation in ANY thought or action, no? You can get creative with the way you wash the dishes or scratch the middle of your back or...um...have sex. Eroticism is one of the most wonderful arenas for creativity, IMHO!

Anyway, I've been thinking that I'd like to add a few non-writing classes to the Writing Salon curriculum, classes that will help people to explore creativity itself and then apply what they've learned to WHATEVER. That's why I asked Eric Maisel if he'd teach a creativity workshop this session. If people are interested and we get at least eight students, then I'll try to come up with additional variations on the same theme for future classes. Let's see, for example, how about a class on how to declutter your workspace, taught by a professional organizer?

What do YOU think?  Feel free to post a comment here. I'd love to hear other suggestions.

Here's a picture of Eric leading a Guided Writing Marathon not too long ago:

And here's one of folks hanging out afterward, having  what I like to think were fascinatingly creative conversations:

And here we have a shot of the "penny project" woman (center) who came to the writing marathon, and whose name I have, I'm sorry to say, forgotten.  I include this photo because it's a fun example of someone who had a kinda wonderfully wacky creative idea and ran with it: