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THERE ARE NO CREATIVE BLOCKS<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I am a shamanic teacher, painter and author. In this article I am going to explain why, viewed from a shamanic perspective, there is no such thing as a creative block.<\/span><\/p>\n This may sound a bit controversial or flippant as creative blocks can feel <\/span>very<\/i><\/span> real to people who are on deadline for a book, article, film or other creation. For that reason I will start by acknowledging just how soul destroying such times are, when the flow appears to dry up. If you are self-employed this may also mean that your income dries up. In its most severe form it can bring on depression. (I am not a complete monster and I spent years doing shamanic healing sessions with a focus on helping people access their creativity. Before you start sending me hate mail: I DO UNDERSTAND!!)<\/span><\/p>\n The thing is that many people love being creative without ever reflecting on where this “flow” originates. Before I undertook intensive training in shamanism I had a vague idea that I had a very lively imagination (I was painting and writing already in childhood) and that the creative flow originated in some mysterious part of my own brain\/mind\/psyche\/imagination. <\/span><\/p>\n I have experienced plenty of struggles in my life – due to my “hyperactive imagination” I have a hard time simply falling asleep at night – everything has its downside!! However, one thing I have never experienced is creative block. Full stop. I may have times where painting is not going well but then I switch to writing, poetry, film making or making music. <\/span><\/p>\n When shamanism found me and called me, the first few introduction courses made me feel like someone had held a shotgun to my head and blown off the back of my head. Suddenly my imagination was the whole cosmos, stretched across all worlds, including other worlds, the spirit world. The only word for this is <\/span>revelation<\/i><\/span>! I discovered that the beings I had given form and colour on canvas were not just imaginary, they were spirit allies, otherworld inhabitants, divine beings, who had come forward to work with me and others. <\/span><\/p>\n I discovered that inspiration flows through us but does not necessarily originate with us.<\/i><\/span> The key principle in shamanism <\/span>is hollowing out, becoming a hollow bone for spirit. <\/i><\/span>Once we do so, we are in flow (if perhaps not the exact flow we were planning without conscious mind, but FLOW!) For me that flow is creativity.<\/span><\/p>\n At that point my relationship to my own paintings changed completely. In the “regular art world” artists often judge their worldly success by the number of painting sales. Now I do sell paintings – there is a steady flow of them leaving my studio – but the moment you realise that your paintings are powerful beings given a home\/body\/physical presence on canvas – you can’t just sell them to anyone who asks. Some tough experiences and wild rides have taught me <\/span>consult the spirit of the painting about where it wants to live<\/i><\/span> – not just sell it to the first person who expresses interest. This has also meant I am sometimes giving paintings away following a dream or message from spirit that instructs me <\/span>in no uncertain terms<\/i><\/span> that a specific painting was to help a person in their lives. <\/span><\/p>\n Decades of daily encounters with creativity have taught me that the creative flow <\/span>ultimately<\/i><\/span> originates elsewhere – it ultimately connects to the very Heart of Creation itself. It certainly passes through our imagination and the filter of our own experiences\/memories\/talents but it is a trans-personal force. The creative force is closely related to Life Force and Spirit. – This also means we need to re-think any egoic attachments to what we create, arrive at a more humble attitude. These days I use phrases like “received from spirit” more often and more comfortably than I CREATE….<\/span><\/p>\n When blocks in creativity occur a number of things might be going on:<\/span><\/p>\n – We may be too focussed on the “ownership of the creative flow” and it not flowing the way our conscious mind wants. The moment we step back and open ourselves to whatever desires to take form – the block dissolves pretty quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n – We do not distinguish between internal and external creativity. Meaning that people easily see the outward expression of creativity: paintings, architecture, book, music, films etc. But there is also internal creativity: some people have an amazing talent for problem-solving, for giving creative legal advice, for turning a very dense and complex text into a lucid summary others can actually absorb Surgeons may display great creativity in the way their operate and sew up wounds (minimizing discomfort recovery time for the patient – and so forth! Rather than saying “I am not creative” ask yourself : <\/span>“What is my unique area of creativity?!” <\/b><\/i><\/span>It could be giving other people relationship advice, it could be having conversation with young children that they will remember long after you yourself die….<\/span><\/p>\n – Everything that exists in the human and earthly realm has a beginning, middle and end. We cannot escape death and endings. They give events meaning. We do not have “forever” to do things or get them right – we have only the NOW. Often people get into creative blocks (or even depressive states) when they are not willing to surrender to symbolic death and dark nights of the soul. Sometimes it is Autumn, not Spring, even in our personal or internal lives. Sometimes we need Cave Time and Darkness, not light. Sometimes we need to be calmed so something can gestate. The moment we can surrender to this process it takes on a movement of its own and one day people will move “out of the tunnel”. Fighting and resisting the process can stall it – meaning remaining stuck in the tunnel for prolonged amount of time.<\/span><\/p>\n I could go on and on – and then this would turn into a book! (Maybe one day I will write that book – but I am busy writing a book about Sacred Art just now). If you would like to know more and also hear other people (shamans, artists, entrepreneurs and experts in different fields) speaking about harnessing creative power, I invite you all to register for the following <\/span><\/p>\n FREE Summit<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n HARNESS YOUR CREATIVE POWER<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n with Gunhild Lorenzen<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Learn To Cultivate Your Creative Genius, Deepen Your Courage, Find Your Confidence and Blissful Passion!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n