"You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.” Rumi

CREATIVITY

Why do great mystics say you are so much more more than what you think you are, you are a universe in yourself, you can achieve the biggest and brightest of things you want in life , just express yourself in your own unique way ?

I believe mystics and other great men have put in lot of hours , time and energy in gaining the experience of more than what other people even touch briefly in their lifetimes i.e going beyond their limitations, beliefs and norms to explore what lies beyond the normal. And then they all come back to us with same kind of conviction that life is much more than what we perceive of it in our vision.

Creativity : such a beautiful word and holds a depth of human vision inside it which reveal itself to you like a shy bride only if you are patient and loving. Creativity is not something that is limited to few people because they have already expressed themselves in beautiful ways. But, its present in all of us in as different ways as there are spices of plants arounds to form a complete picture of the earth.

Lets talk more about it as personally its one of my most cherished gifts from the creator to us .

Creativity is an act to create something . Everything started from nothingness. And from nothingness emerged everything that we can see and feel around us including ourselves. Its a demonstration from the creator itself that we are born with an inherent quality to create. Lets not be limited in our vision of it. Art, decor , poetry , stories, films and many such other things are thought to be creative. And it is beautiful. But when a mother tries to pacify her child in thousand ways its creativity , when a teacher is trying to instill lessons in a student in a different way of teaching ,its creative, when a business person caters to a unique demand its creative. Its all around us and makes this world a wonder and a unique place to live in . If necessity is mother to invention then expression is mother to creativity in my opinion. Its the desire to express ourselves uniquely in varied ways that gives birth to creativity in our lives. And when we are creative the nature and universe opens up with huge arms to embrace and reward us in a way that is so gratifying . When you pick up that pen and write down the words streaming from your soul , the reward come as a release from hurt , pain or confusion . When you pick up your paint brush and glide it on canvas dripped in colour reward comes through as a break from outward influences and diving deep in . When you work on a piece of design fusing and merging different materials reward comes through as an acknowledgment of self and needing no outside approval , when you repair a gadget using what's available at home rewards come as a gratification of being resourceful and shiny through , and so on and so forth. Every day there is something that we can do which opens up the door for the soul to make it smile and live through its vision .

What is your expression? Express yourself at least once in a day that resonates with you . It could be anything but do it daily . You will soon find that there is a treasure hidden within you that is waiting to come alive and not only benefit you but others as well. Lets contribute to the world dynamics in a happy way and you will witness magic around you . Its said that god created us in his own image in million ways so he could experience himself or herself in a million ways. Life is waiting to be experienced by you in you own unique pattern . You have gifts that is waiting to explored. Start small , start with one and you will rediscover yourself.

You will also witness that you come up with creative solutions to your problems and its not daunting anymore . Problem solving can be fun as well. Just like our Mulla Nasrudin who is so creative with his problem solving that it makes you smile .

Once his wife complained that their house is not big enough and he should do something about it. He sure did . He got 10 farm animals and put them all in his small house. Suddenly there was space crunch and his wife got more bothered each day trying to adjust with animals in small space. She then asked Mulla to get rid of them but instead he got a few more . His wife tried to make more space for all them and they somehow managed to all live under the same roof.

Soon his wife missed all the space she had to herself and her husband. Mulla saw this and got rid of all the animals. The wife realised how much space they actually had and stopped complaining .

Mulla made her see what they always had and be thankful for it by his creative ways. Life can be like that. Creativity is a way for abundance and gratitude at the same time.

Mediation on creativity :

Practical ways :

• Try a new thing everyday. It can be a new yoga posture, a new recipe , a new place ...anything . It will give you the renewed feeling of exploring something that you didn't know of before and keeps you alive.

• Learn : Try and learn about something everyday whether it's from your field or outside of it. Broaden your horizons and life will keep revealing its beautiful colours to you.

• Find an out of box solution to small problems and you will discover different perceptions and in turn will break the old patterns .

• Sit in silence and let it speak to you for a change. It will guide you to what's creative resources you are hiding within you . And once it has spoken express it . Take a walk by yourself or meditate or just be , doing nothing but experiencing silence.

These ways will unleash the creative artist residing in you and world will have a new artist in their own right. Like Rumi said "You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.”