1. How do you define “spirituality”?
2. Does spirituality differ from religion?
3. How do you define “creativity”?
4. What is the source of creativity?

In Wikipedia, spirituality means “a process of personal transformation in accordance with religious ideals. Since the 19th century spirituality is often separated from religion, and has become more oriented on subjective experience and psychological growth.”(Wikipedia) In my point of view, spirituality derived from inspiration and imagination. People can image base on their view and get the inspiration from imagination. This is a process of how the spirituality comes from. There are two part of spirituality. One is the postnatal spirituality that can be fostered by education. The other one is inborn spirituality. Inborn spirituality cannot be replicated and every person owns it.

I think the spirituality and religion is different. Religion is about someone’s belief and spirituality is something about the spirit world. The religious   spirituality is another thing and is a type of spirituality. People can get the inspiration from personal religion belief. Grey claim “Inspiration means   access to spirit. Spirit brings the vision to the artist via the imagination, the multidimensional media center of our minds.” Spirituality derived from inspiration and imagination. Creation is a form of conveying the spirituality.

I think creativity is an ability of creating something new and an ability to create something special. As I mention before, Creation is a form of conveying the spirituality. Creativity derives from personal inspiration. Creativity is very important to artist and artist gets the spirituality to create something. Every single person owns a different perspective and the different perspective is the most motivation for people’s creation. In Wikipedia, creativity means “a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created.” So, creativity is valuable thing for people.

The source of creativity usually comes from inspiration and imagination as I mention before. Creation is a form of conveying the spirituality. For example, the musicians get the spirituality from personal religious belief to write the Church songs. The painter gets the spirituality form their imagination and view when drawing a painting. There are a lot of way to get the spirituality of creativity, like personal hobby, education and other artist’s artwork. People who have an open mind is easier to have a good creativity.

Reference:

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity

I think spirituality and religion is different. Religion is about some body’s belief and spirituality is something about the spirit world. In the definition I found online, spirituality means “a process of personal transformation in accordance with religious ideals. Since the 19th century spirituality is often separated from religion, and has become more oriented on subjective experience and psychological growth.”(Wikipedia) I prefer the meaning that spirituality is an individual’s experience and psychological growth. In this week’s article, Art as Spiritual Practice by Grey, A. (2001), Grey discuss the relationship of art and spirituality. This is an interesting topic. I consider that all of the artist has own spirituality world that is different with other people. Moreover, these artists are good at conveying their special ideas. Grey claim that “ drawing is a way of entering into the Spiritual Practice of art and seeing… a meditative concentration is needed to enter into a subject that you are drawing.” (p.87) That’s good explanation. We can study an artiste’s inner world through their work of art. An artwork is a good carrier to convey a person’s spirituality. Spirituality is unique in every person and can be influence by education, environment and wisdom. This is a postnatal spirituality. There is an innate spirituality that carried by people. I think the personal interest and inspiration is an innate spirituality. Grey stated “spirituality is the most mysterious step in the creative process. The artist is processed by a creative force, overtaken by a vision and driven to create. (p.82) So, an innate spirituality is very important to an artist and the painting, music and sculpture is a form of spirituality. Like Van Goh, Michelangelo, these famous artists have a special inspiration and their great artwork inspire several generations. Spirituality is an answer and reason for art. Because the inspiration, people create the art. Why people can create an art? Because Spirituality is the key.

Citation:

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