Words of liberation for the creative soul!

I recently read an email from Toko-pa Turner about the energy contained in everything we create. She ended with the words quoted above, and their energy immediately jumped off the page, landing powerfully in my soul! The words feel like a loving, expansive permission slip to create more! After posting this graphic on social media, I heard from many others that the words resonated with them, too.

What is a “devotion”? For me, devotion captures a sense of personal choice. A devotion is something you do because you decided to be the kind of person who does that thing. I’ve decided to be an artist so I am devoted to creating art. Maybe you are the kind of person who loves to create exciting meals, so you are devoted to trying new recipes for dinner every night.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines “devotion” as a feeling of strong or constant regard for and dedication to someone or something. The definition included some nuance:

• as in love: a feeling of strong or constant regard for and dedication to someone

• as in dedication: adherence to something or something to which one is bound by a pledge or duty

• as in religion: belief and trust in and loyalty to God

This part of the definition stood out for me: devotion stresses zeal and service amounting to self-dedication.

Creating art as an act of devotion requires self-dedication. You make a promise to yourself to do the thing, whether the thing is painting, meditating, cooking, or whatever lights you up. Because you have great enthusiasm to do this thing, you are no doubt on your way to becoming the kind of a person who does this thing. And so you commit - you dedicate yourself to the thing.

Creating art as an act of devotion doesn’t require perfection. Let’s lay down that impossible burden! A devotion just requires you to dedicate yourself to showing up. There is no concern for what you will get out of the practice. Focusing on the outcome in art or in the spiritual realm is a recipe for disappointment. It sucks all the joy out of the act.

Creating art as an act of devotion frees you from expectation or agenda. Can you show up without expectation or agenda? A couple months ago, I came across the word ‘devotion’ when I was trying to show up to my new meditation practice encourage by my Celtic spiritual tradition. It is very much like Centering Prayer, basically sitting quietly in contemplation. I kept feeling like I was doing it wrong because I wasn’t receiving any deep insights. In conversation with a mentor, I realized that I was too focused on the expectation of the goodie bag I was hoping to get as a reward. She told me that she shows her devotion to the Eternal One by sitting in quiet contemplation, without any agenda or any expectation of insights or revelations, or other goodies one might receive. She chooses to show up for this time of mediation as an act of devotion. 

The concept of showing up without expectation or agenda, as an act of devotion, was a game changer in my meditation practice. It has been much easier for me to meditate regularly now that I stepped away from the rollercoaster of expectations. I show up to meditate because that is how I show my devotion.

Creating art as an act of devotion has nothing to do with the commercial side of art.  No shade on selling artwork - I do it quite regularly which you know if you’ve read my last two emails! But I still struggle with this one. It feels so rebellious to use (notice I did not say “waste”!) resources to create art just because I love to do it. If I let worries about capitalism and productivity into my studio, they will crowd out my authentic voice and will quash any creative risks I am taking. Creating art requires an entirely different mindset. While I’m trying to paint, there isn’t any room for the voices that ask if this piece is good enough to sell. That may be a valid question for another day, but not while I am painting. The back of the hand to all those voices that judge my nascent attempts at creating!

Creating art as an act of devotion transforms the humble act of making marks on paper into something significantly sacred. How would your work be transformed if you treated it as sacred? Ordinary actions become sacred actions when you pair them with a sacred intention or sacred mindset. Could it be this straightforward? Having a sacred mindset flows from the idea of ‘devotion.’ As soon as you consider your creativity as an act of devotion, you have endowed an ordinary act with a sacred intention. The word “sacred” means “set apart.” Is it time you set apart sacred time to do whatever lights you up? What do you want to devote yourself to today?

Creating art is an act of devotion to the one that is creating us. My first response to reading Turner’s words was a big exhale and a desire to create some art. As I noted above, they felt like a loving, expansive permission slip had landed in my soul. “Loving” because the one that is creating us, the Spirit, or God, loves what we create. When I think this, I can imagine the look on a mother’s face when her child hands her a fist of dandelions. That kind of love. “Expansive” because we need to stop keeping ourselves small! So much of our culture prefers that we not make waves, and just stay in the small boxes that it builds around us. Time to break free? “Permission Slip” because there is nobody bringing us a permission slip to do what lights us up other than the Divine essence living deep within us, and expressing itself as our desires. Maybe you need to create a real permission slip for yourself, full of color and love!

Calling creativity an act of devotion opened a space that I’m still unpacking. How do these words land for you? What do they open up in you? Let me know in the comments!