Artifact #1: Creative Spirituality Reflection

http://blogs.uoregon.edu/shiyut/files/2013/12/How-to-improve-your-spirituality-1d9cok1.jpg

Learning Objectives

  • Become familiar with ways in which spirituality influences artists
  • Discuss the differences between spirituality and religion
  • Examine spirituality as a generative force and a well spring for creativity

Original Post: (Spirituality, Creativity, & Religion)

How do you define spirituality?

There is no universal definition of spirituality, which is one of the reasons spirituality is so complex.  I believe there are numerous types of spirituality, but for me personally, spirituality is the quest to find the meaning of my personal existence.  It is an introspective form of cognition that allows people to analyze their internal experiences of life.  For instance, spending time to contemplate different relationships, values, morals, ect., that are important to you. I think meditation, communication, and certain physical activities can help achieve spiritual mindsets.

Does spirituality differ from religion?

Absolutely. Religion and spirituality may seem similar, and in some aspects overlap, but in general they are separate entities. Religion leaves little room for creativity. From my understanding, religion provides a structure for moral and principled guidelines. It provides the answers, so to some people it is considered a spiritual source of comfort. At the same time, at least in my experience, religion is exclusive.  Religion has been a blessing in many situations, but at the same time have causes violence, wars, discrimination and often pain and suffering.  In a sense, I see spirituality as the religious beliefs people generate for themselves.

How do you define creativity?

Creativity is the product of imagination.  It is unique innovative thoughts that people come up with on their own.  As we live our lives we receive stimuli from the outside world that spark original thoughts and ideas. Creativity is limitless, and can be expressed in art, writing, speech, sports, in anything really.  Just the other day I listened to a pod cast about a surgeon who managed to completely reconstruct someone’s jaw with a portion of his fibula. Creativity is one of the main factors that set us apart from other animals. It allows us to evolve and progress at incredible rates, because we are constantly approaching the world at new angles and perspectives.

What is the source of creativity?

I would have to say the source of creativity is the mind. Specifically, creativity is the product of independent thinking in combination with stimuli from the outside world.  Along with that, I think the willingness to be creative comes into play.  Ingenious ideas probably aren’t going to come to you while you are watching a movie on the couch.  One thing I found interesting though was that for the longest time scientists believed creativity stemmed from strictly the right hemisphere of the brain.  Recently though, more and more studies are suggesting that the left hemisphere plays a significant role in the process of creativity as well.

Reflection

Reflecting over my views on spirituality, religion, and creativity made me realize how little my involvement is in those realms.  Throughout the world spirituality, religion, and creativity are practiced by different cultures, and I truly believe it is part of human nature to seek out a greater meaning to life.  A good place to start is to examine the world from a different perspective.  Grey points out that, “viewers interpret a work of art through the filter of their worldview, the knowledge and experience condition their mind.” (Grey, pg 102) This is absolutely true and one conclusion I’ve taken away from this section is that people need to open their eyes and actually ‘see’ the world around them. We are conditioned to view the world in a very specific way and a major component of spirituality, religion, and creativity are coming up with individual conclusions about art, and to a greater degree, about individual theology.

Along with gaining a better understanding of my own views, this section gave me a chance to sift through other blogs and explore the different views within the class.  I found that I disagreed with some opinions in other blogs, but that is the beauty of spirituality and creativity, people are allowed to disagree and have contrasting personal beliefs. This is one reason I am less fond of some religions, because in my personal experience the black and white guidelines are not inclusive to varying perspectives.

In the Future

One of my roommates is actually incredibly spiritual and I’ve always wanted to become more in tune with the meaning of my personal existence. In the future I hope to find more time to relax and just think. I also hope to follow Grey’s suggestion and be more observant of the things around me instead of just going through the motions.

References

Grey, A. (2001). Art as Spiritual Practice. The Mission of Art (1st ed., pp. 205-233). Boston & London: Shambhala.

 

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