Would love to hear why you included this quote in this week's newsletter. “Any talent, wisdom, or insight you have that you don’t share becomes pain.” —Elizabeth Gilbert. That is a very provocative assertion.
I thought it was an interesting (and yes, provocative) counterpoint to the Holderlin quote.
It also reminds me of this line from the Gospel of Thomas, which from memory goes like "if you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you; but if you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
I think for creative people, if you don't bring forth your creativity in one way or another, it turns into a creative shadow that manifests in all kinds of unpleasant ways.
I would agree with that. So much that I believe a large percentage of mental and physical illnesses which suck up a huge amount of health care and pharmaceutical resources and dollars and causes a tremendous amount of suffering and breakdowns in relationship could be relieved by this process of bringing forth what is in us.
This reminds me of one of the tenets of the book “The Body Keeps the Score”. If we keep holding onto things, rather than letting them go - whether it’s thoughts, stress, failures, expectations - we enter a state of dis-ease, rather than what I prefer to gravitate towards: that which is Effortless…
Hmm, very interesting Eric. Thanks for reminding me about that book. I need to revisit it. One aspect of the body keeping the score is that we're drawn to things that enliven us, but if we ignore those affinities that can also cause dis-ease. So in some cases don't we have to stop letting go and actually hold on to what matters with more conviction? Maybe part of an effortless existence is letting one's truth be more obvious, both to oneself and to others?
Another way to frame that might be that being out of touch with our values (rather than living them out) creates dis-ease. When we're in touch with our values we can take actions aligned with them, and action becomes more effortless.
“When I’m low on ideas, part of the problem is usually that I haven’t been filling my cup from the well of creativity. Travel is another way I’ve found of tapping the well: visiting a new place automatically increases the amount of novelty you’re exposed to.”
I love this insight. It made me reflect on the wells of creativity that fill my cup. Inspiration and ideas for me always come from
- hearing music that makes my spine tingle
- meditation - especially from about 5 minutes in, which also seems the moment in my practice where time accelerates and the next time I check, 5 minutes is about 15
- hiking - the space of nature gives me a spaciousness to be creative
- walking - this one is different to hiking. It’s another slow movement, but I usually observe people walking (preferring hiking to be an environment for enjoying solitude
- reading through my interstitial journal, and catching myself emotions and mood as I revisit my garden of past observations, feelings, needs, wants, thoughts
These are all great observations, Eric. Many of the ones you listed are sources of inspiration for me, too. Hiking and walking can both engage the Default Mode Network in a way that encourages creativity and problem-solving. Also, I'm curious about your interstitial journaling practice--I've only tried that one briefly. Have you written about it anywhere?
Thanks Chris for sharing many wonderful nuggets in this post.
For one, I resonate with Becky deeply. I’m an octopus person as Dave Kang puts it, which is another beautiful way of framing a multi- hyphenate. Finally I don’t have to hide my multiple expressions. :) feels good to be on Substack.
Also, interesting to stumble upon the coaching podcast series. I just finished my NLP certifications and I’m a performance coach as well. This is extremely helpful. I’m excited to check it out, thanks again. 🌻
Hey Ishita, I too see myself as a multipotentialite/scanner/whatever you want to call it! It can be tough to balance having multiple interests and goals. I think Becky's approach to creativity helps make it possible to enjoy all these wonderful things, even if in smaller bites.
And congrats on finishing your NLP certifications! I did mine 15 years ago :)
To be honest, I felt like the NLP training did not give me the tools I needed to do the kind of deep work with people that I wanted to do. That's not necessarily a reflection of NLP, but of the two-week training format that is common. Afterward, I enrolled in grad school and became a therapist, and I didn't really practice NLP (other than using rapport and meta model questions). Part of that is because NLP isn't recognized as an evidence-based therapy and isn't very well-respected among licensed therapists. Now though, after being a therapist for over 10 years, I'm coming back to NLP a bit because it has some really useful tools that i want to re-integrate into my practice. For example, I'm signed up for the Core Transformation training with the Andreases in October--and CT is rooted in NLP.
Chris, wow! Thanks so much for the shout. Perhaps coincidentally - I'm currently expanding that post into something a bit bigger :)
Awesome! Can't wait to see what you come up with.
Would love to hear why you included this quote in this week's newsletter. “Any talent, wisdom, or insight you have that you don’t share becomes pain.” —Elizabeth Gilbert. That is a very provocative assertion.
I thought it was an interesting (and yes, provocative) counterpoint to the Holderlin quote.
It also reminds me of this line from the Gospel of Thomas, which from memory goes like "if you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you; but if you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
I think for creative people, if you don't bring forth your creativity in one way or another, it turns into a creative shadow that manifests in all kinds of unpleasant ways.
I would agree with that. So much that I believe a large percentage of mental and physical illnesses which suck up a huge amount of health care and pharmaceutical resources and dollars and causes a tremendous amount of suffering and breakdowns in relationship could be relieved by this process of bringing forth what is in us.
This reminds me of one of the tenets of the book “The Body Keeps the Score”. If we keep holding onto things, rather than letting them go - whether it’s thoughts, stress, failures, expectations - we enter a state of dis-ease, rather than what I prefer to gravitate towards: that which is Effortless…
Hmm, very interesting Eric. Thanks for reminding me about that book. I need to revisit it. One aspect of the body keeping the score is that we're drawn to things that enliven us, but if we ignore those affinities that can also cause dis-ease. So in some cases don't we have to stop letting go and actually hold on to what matters with more conviction? Maybe part of an effortless existence is letting one's truth be more obvious, both to oneself and to others?
Another way to frame that might be that being out of touch with our values (rather than living them out) creates dis-ease. When we're in touch with our values we can take actions aligned with them, and action becomes more effortless.
that is very well clarified Chris.
“When I’m low on ideas, part of the problem is usually that I haven’t been filling my cup from the well of creativity. Travel is another way I’ve found of tapping the well: visiting a new place automatically increases the amount of novelty you’re exposed to.”
I love this insight. It made me reflect on the wells of creativity that fill my cup. Inspiration and ideas for me always come from
- hearing music that makes my spine tingle
- meditation - especially from about 5 minutes in, which also seems the moment in my practice where time accelerates and the next time I check, 5 minutes is about 15
- hiking - the space of nature gives me a spaciousness to be creative
- walking - this one is different to hiking. It’s another slow movement, but I usually observe people walking (preferring hiking to be an environment for enjoying solitude
- reading through my interstitial journal, and catching myself emotions and mood as I revisit my garden of past observations, feelings, needs, wants, thoughts
These are all great observations, Eric. Many of the ones you listed are sources of inspiration for me, too. Hiking and walking can both engage the Default Mode Network in a way that encourages creativity and problem-solving. Also, I'm curious about your interstitial journaling practice--I've only tried that one briefly. Have you written about it anywhere?
Thanks Chris for sharing many wonderful nuggets in this post.
For one, I resonate with Becky deeply. I’m an octopus person as Dave Kang puts it, which is another beautiful way of framing a multi- hyphenate. Finally I don’t have to hide my multiple expressions. :) feels good to be on Substack.
Also, interesting to stumble upon the coaching podcast series. I just finished my NLP certifications and I’m a performance coach as well. This is extremely helpful. I’m excited to check it out, thanks again. 🌻
Hey Ishita, I too see myself as a multipotentialite/scanner/whatever you want to call it! It can be tough to balance having multiple interests and goals. I think Becky's approach to creativity helps make it possible to enjoy all these wonderful things, even if in smaller bites.
And congrats on finishing your NLP certifications! I did mine 15 years ago :)
How lovely to meet a fellow NLPer. It’s very interesting to me. How as your experience if I may ask. Do you still practice it actively?
To be honest, I felt like the NLP training did not give me the tools I needed to do the kind of deep work with people that I wanted to do. That's not necessarily a reflection of NLP, but of the two-week training format that is common. Afterward, I enrolled in grad school and became a therapist, and I didn't really practice NLP (other than using rapport and meta model questions). Part of that is because NLP isn't recognized as an evidence-based therapy and isn't very well-respected among licensed therapists. Now though, after being a therapist for over 10 years, I'm coming back to NLP a bit because it has some really useful tools that i want to re-integrate into my practice. For example, I'm signed up for the Core Transformation training with the Andreases in October--and CT is rooted in NLP.