LifeSoup by Cherie Dawn Haas

A sneak peek inside “From Meditation to Creation 3: 9 Meditation Scripts for Creative Expression,” now available in eBook formats.

What Creativity Means to Me

While walking through a neighborhood, I like to entertain myself by looking at the homes and wondering, “If a writer lives there, where would their writing space be?” I imagine it being clean and quiet, and it’s often a nook that’s part of the architecture of the house. 

Maybe part of the question is, if I lived there, where would I write? The high-pitched attic space? The addition above the garage? It’s a fun fantasy, perhaps because I don’t, at this time, have a writing room of my own.

The very fact that I crave it so much is meaningful because writing is the core of my creative nature. Novels, poetry, prompt-inspired exercises just for practice; and my creativity also flows off the page – through my work as an art community editor, to previous hobbies like costume design, choreography, crochet, ukulele / guitar, etc.

What they all have in common is that they are forms of self-expression that are both incredibly personal and universal. The beauty of self-expression is that it allows us to vent our negativity and also cultivate positivity. It allows us to give a voice to the ghosts in our heads.

On this personal level, I’m a more even-keeled human because I intentionally channel the far range of emotions through creative acts. Doing so, I’m practicing self-care, but there’s another reason behind my motivation – to set an example for my sons (16 and 17 years old as of this writing). They see me doing the work, hear me talk about the creative life, even smell the incense that burns as I focus on my craft. It’s part of their life, whether they realize it or not, and I believe they’re picking up on it in the most positive, if subliminal, ways. Overcoming fears, persevering, and putting in the time are all things that they grew up (and are growing up) being surrounded by, as much as any other part of our family dynamics and culture, as common as the weekly groceries they pick over, as mundane as washing the dishes.

You can see how I practice and live the creative life for myself and my sons, but then I go and make my work public. It’s nice to get recognition and even financial compensation for my words, but another reason I do it is to help inspire the world. Even if readers aren’t moved by my actual creations, I believe and hope that simply seeing another human (or another woman, wife, mom, Kentuckian) write a novel, a blog, or a meditation, that they can do it, too. I try to set a public example of what it looks like to study, to practice, to participate in community, to do the work, and to overcome the inherent obstacles.

So the next time you go for a walk, look around and see how you’re inspired or what fantasy plays out in your mind. Use these meditations to cultivate your creativity – doing things like this is part of the work, and none of it is wasted effort. You never know – you just might end up on the other side of the page yourself.

Download your copy of “From Meditation to Creation 3: 9 Meditation Scripts for Creative Expression,” here. Co-authored by Santosh David, Melissa Mattingly, and Cherie Dawn Haas