I didn’t think I had a blog in me today. I could have posted something I already wrote but as to actually writing something fresh for public, I didn’t feel I had the time or the inclination. However, this was my kick up the arse. I was writing and I was creating every day but then the car broke down and tons of things got in the way. I stopped prioritising creativity. That is a big thing. I stopped prioritising the creative flow. Suddenly I don’t feel as connected to myself and to my truth. My music practice has lost its spirit because, in a very real way, I have lost my spirit and my connection to spirit, to creativity.

I increasingly believe that creativity and spirit are one. That the best creation comes when we are fully connected to our deep spirit, to our true selves, to the stream of unending love and inspiration that comes from deep within us, from all around us. When we get lost in the illusions, in the business of life, we come out of that creative zone. Life is so incredibly distracting, throwing up situation after situation and our egos are so incredibly addicted to the distraction.

It is almost as if the depth of ourselves, in its wisdom, is asking us whether we are ready to create, whether we are prepared enough to listen, to tune in and to harmonise. Perhaps the distractions themselves are being drawn to us to show us that we have not yet let go of enough thought to properly devote our time to that most meditative of activities of creation.

I think of children when they create, of myself when I was young, totally absorbed in the moment, tongue sticking out to one side. Perhaps the focus doesn’t last so long but the moment is entirely devoted to the act of creation.

These days have even more distractions for us. There is Facebook and the internet and Netflix and computer games. There are box sets of great entertainment to watch, movie series, blogs on movies, Instagram, Crossfit, twitter, and a million other avenues of information, activities and distractions to pull our attention away from being in a moment, experiencing just ourselves. Even yoga seems to have been hijacked, with people constantly posing, sweating, comparing and postulating about their ‘new’ style, toned body, hot-fudge-dog-beer asana competition. Weird considering that yoga means union, union with self, with deep self, with physical self, with mental self, with emotional self. A conscious act of being aware. A few stretching postures to ease the body into a meditative state.

Yet we can learn from all these things. We can take all this experience, all this noise, all this deviation and allow it to lead us back to ourselves. As I sit and write these words I feel my mind focusing once more. I feel myself aligning again with my creative spirit. I am not thinking when I type. I am allowing the words to flow. Just as the breath is allowed to flow through the body in meditation; in a yoga asana; when we shower.

The creativity and silence are always there, present, hiding underneath the noise. In fact, the noise arises out of the silence. The noise is inspiration, it is feedback, it is a tool. But then… How can I get back to my creativity? How can we find time in the busy day, within our busy minds?

I suggest we have to care first. We have to care enough to notice. When we notice then we can take an action. Perhaps the best action we can take at any point is to stop. And listen. This is power in non-action. Non-action does not mean we just switch off. It is a conscious choice. To listen. To allow things to be, to flow. It means to accept things just as they are for a while. To have the courage to stop and tune in to ourselves.

That is what I am doing today. Listening. Allowing. Accepting…

Part 2 to follow…

You can listen to Matt Rivers’ new album Nature on Spotify or Bandcamp.