Category: Unit 7 Creative Spirituality

1. How do you define “spirituality”?

My definition of spirituality is based off of my Christian faith. Christianity holds a working definition of spirituality, “the life-long journey through which a person comes to discover Self in relationship to God and to God’s creation.” More generally speaking, spirituality involves humankind’s ultimate nature towards matters of sanity and of psychological health.

2. Does spirituality differ from religion?

Yes, religion is more of a set of values, teachings and actions that inspire a divine belief, which leads to pathway for a diety’s presence to be seen and felt more directly. Whereas, spirituality is a more of general term, which involves religion but that also encompasses the general human desire to strives towards the greater whole of them selves. The most basic difference between religion and spirituality is that religions offer a specific structure to help people to realize their innate spirituality.

3. How do you define “creativity”?

I define creativity as a person’s ability to think outside of the box. How far that ability reaches outside of the box will result in innovative creations or approaches to certain tasks. Creativity can play a role and be crucial for certain jobs.Everyone has a certain level of creativity, however, those that see are and understand their emotions while viewing the world of art may be more creative.

4. What is the source of creativity?

Creativity can be derived from stepping out of your comfort zone. For example, if someone is used to always making or listening to music, it can be the step-to-step aside and try something different, such as sports. Creativity does not only pertain to art. It is a mindset of living, and how we decide to experience life in different aspects of our innate nature. It is the source of our thoughts and how we brain storm our ideas into actions.

I found Grey’s article, The Mission of Art, most eye opening. He focuses on how looking and seeing differ. ‘Looking’ is turning one’s eyes to a certain object while ‘seeing’ is the perception of an object or how a person determines what he is looking at. This idea also applies in a second way because, ‘looking’ can also refer to appearance while ‘seeing’ can be defined as an act or physical activity. We look at things and evaluate them in our minds every day. We often tend to overlook the depth or meaning of the word or actions s we use and say, which makes it quite easy to blend the two as one meaning. This is especially true with terms that have similar meanings like ‘looking’ and ‘seeing.’ Both involve using the eyes and sense of sight, but upon closer examination it will reveal what makes one different from the other. Seeing is the effect of looking. For instance, if you want to see something you must look at it first. It differs from the explanation of “to see” as we see something only when it comes into our sight by chance. Looking can be seeing, but seeing is also about knowing. Grey helps to describe the three eyes of knowing in which we can truly see people, objects and places: “Saint Bonaventure’s three eyes of knowing: the eye of flesh sees the “outer” realm of material objects; the eye of reason sees symbolically, drawing distinctions and making conceptual relationships; and the mystic eye of contemplation sees the luminous transcendental realms” (The Mission of Art, 74). I agree that it is important for artist to be able to see on each level in order understand the “technical beauty, archetypal beauty, and spiritual beauty” and use the three different understandings in their work. (The Mission of Art, 74). These three types of beauty captures a sophisticated piece of art. Therefore, items that we may look at on the daily are not sophisticated enough to capture our attention until emotions are involved with our looking, then we are truly seeing when thought interferes.