A while back I posted the beginnings of a self portrait painting on Facebook. I received some really great feedback and comments, one of which came from a talented friend whose comment read "Meniyka Kiravell, you are so good at everything!"
While this was flattering, I felt incredibly humbled. Because there was a time in my life when I hadn’t embraced my creative potential and lacked the confidence to share that part of myself with the world. And so afterwards, I began thinking about something we all share, the magical gift of creative expression.
Since embracing my inner artist, I am now truly convinced that any form of creativity and genius from making music and painting to writing, acting, inventing and creative problem solving is really accessible to anyone who chooses to express it.
In case you aren't familiar with my story sprinkled about here at Kiravell.com, I used to be a closeted artist. Which from my current perspective made me more or less like most people in the world who haven’t as of yet embraced their creative potential. I really believe we all are master creators of our realities, destinies and world. We may manifest our creativity in different ways depending on our dispositions, environment and propensities, but the truth is that we all have an inner creative genius just waiting to be expressed in a way that is unique to each of us.
So what does it take to get into this space where our unique creative gifts can bubble forth? How did I break through? It was a combination of meditation, journaling, introspection and getting real with myself. One day I just got fed up of living vicariously through others and I asked myself, what did I really want to do? What did I truly love and feel passionate about? What would I be if I could be anything?
I remember I broke down crying as I was journaling. Colored marker ran down my soggy pages and yet the insight was so clear and simple. I wanted to be an artist.
Step #1. Admit and acknowledge. Little did I know this was my 1st and perhaps most important step in coming out. I admitted to myself what I really wanted to be and acknowledged a big part of myself that I had neglected for too long. An awesome book that helped me get in touch with my inner voice and child is Power of the Other Hand by Lucia Capaccione.
Next I accepted a new belief that what I had wanted to be all my life was not just possible for me, but was destined for me. This new belief that "desire is your destiny calling you" is a great one I picked up from Abraham Hicks. This belief really resonates with me to this day. Desire is a message or a sign that you feel stating..."This is for You!" After the message is received, it's up to us to accept it and take action steps.
Step #2. Give yourself a chance.
You never miss what you never knew. Suspend your disbelief and acknowledge that you do have the talent to express what you desire to express. A great book that can help you break through here is The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
Of course, the artist skills and qualities were a bit latent in me because I had suppressed so much of myself in fear of failure, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief for a short time and consider the new belief of "I am capable" in it’s place. I accepted that if I wanted to express something so deeply, then I must have some propensity or inkling for it. I affirmed that I was capable. Even if I didn’t know how I was going to become the artist I wanted to be, I believed that somewhere deep down inside, I didn’t just have the potential to be this- I was this!
After this, my job was to draw out my inner child and gifts. So I began to take action!
Step #3. Get to work.
Skills and technique are important! Study, practice and learn your craft with determination, perseverance and patience. Perhaps the most important quality of all is to be gentle with oneself. i.e. put the critic to bed during this period.
Another important aspect of Step #3 “Getting to work” is to incorporate some daily activity associated with your pursuit. If your dream is to be a writer for example, even spending 5 to 10 minutes a day is going to help you get the creative juices flowing. Often times I get my greatest ideas and starts in these mini burst creative sessions.
The last and final step for me was and still is about stepping into a mindset of confidence and trust. Every time I sit down to channel a creation whether it be through blogging, composing music, painting or producing anything- I check my headspace. What’s my intention with this creation? Do I trust that it will come through as it has countless times in the past? I am happy and grateful to say I am in a place in my life where my faith in my ability to open up to my creative well is pretty solid. It’s in this worry free space that creativity can flow uninhibited.
Step #4. Keep building confidence and trust that you have access to your creative well. Whether you want to think of it as a space within you or as creative broadcasts from the ether that you can tap into, believe in yourself and your birthright to be a creative channel for limitless creative flow!
It’s this faith that sustains me day in and day out. Often I will sit down in front of my piano, a sheet of paper, or a canvass and I have nothing in my mind but an intention to channel something really amazing, inspiring, timeless, beautiful or cosmic and I just keep my trust and patience in my back pocket. That’s it. My faith never fails me. Ideas just download. Songs come in over the intuitive airways, images float up from the creative well into my my mind’s eye and I just know what to do.
Sounds like magic doesn’t it? It is! But it’s magic we all have access to. We are all magicians! The one special key for unlocking the magic is having patience and maintaining a delicate balance of trust and action without hard expectations. Be open to the timing and the form, but have full faith that what your desire will manifest.
Creative expression sounds a hell of a lot like manifesting doesn’t it? In my Coaching Sessions, I help people step out of whatever closet they have unintentionally put themselves in. Whether you want to be more creative, healthy, wealthy, loved, loving, successful, magnetic... whatever it may be, it helps to have support, techniques and a positive mind set.
Thanks for visiting!
Blessings, ~Meniyka