Feeling Uninspired Leads to Inspiration
Why is it that we have to go through moments of feeling completely uninspired?
At times, it could feel like we are creatively blocked, feel stuck, stagnate, and desire to move in a different direction.
There is an undercurrent of energy that is moving all things — swinging between yin to yang, contraction to expansion, uninspired to inspired.
Energy, according to yin and yang, tends to move in waves, or in a spiral pattern going in and out of feeling yang and then back to yin, and over again. These moments of low creativity may feel bleak and empty, however, become valuable moments to rewrite, reassess, and re-evaluate where our intention and attention go and the why behind our drive to create.
Is it just to create, for the sake of creativity, or is there a deeper-rooted reason in the foundation of your being that drives you to create? The body itself is a regenerative source of energy - we sleep and go into the yin state, and awaken to a renewed sense of the day as we move into the yang state. This flow is constant like the current of a large river waiting for us to remember this ever-flowing and changing cycle that creates, moves, and transforms all things.
If we were just to trust in this cycle of yin and yang, knowing that yin will flow into yang, and yang will flow into yin because this is the undercurrent that moves our life and all creation – then we live according to the Tao, or what Taoism would call Wu Wei or the Way. This even rings true for the cycles of the body as yin is connected to yang reflected in the Yin organ of the body, known as our central or core organs for normal bodily function such as the Heart, Lungs, Spleen, Liver, and Kidneys. Each of these core organs is in deep conversation and dance with the Yang organs, which are known as the vital and subsequent pair of the core organs for bodily elimination, cleansing, and regeneration.
This dance between systems in the body is happening under the surface, showing us the relationship between yin and yang energetics. All systems are interconnected, interchanging, ever-flowing, and transforming the internal world of our body and this is happening within the stars above, and within the Earth’s soil below.
If we trust that there is a process or a pathway for things to move, we can experience life with more ease, acceptance, and compassion, then this is one way to deal with the discomfort and blockages that show up for us. Like a naturally free-flowing river, allowing blockages to be felt, and processed by awareness, we can learn to letting it flow and release, and regenerate new life. This happens with our creativity – where we sometimes feel a blockage of energy, the awareness, acceptance, and compassion of this sometimes painful process can be the drive towards moving it through our creative channel and open us up to new possibilities and inspiration.
In Chinese Medicine, the Liver is responsible for the free-flowing river of Qi to all places in the body, and interestingly enough, its spiritual function is guiding us toward creativity, expansion, and plans for action. When the body experiences a blockage of energy, this also causes a block in our ability to express and expand ourselves, which then leads to frustration and this causes a dysregulated cycle of energy. When this energy is misguided, it pulls the conscious self away from the positive qualities of compassion and kindness; rather it re-directs the energy into anger and frustration. This need to cultivate practices for the free flow of energy in the body and the mental-emotional body is vital to preventing illness and blockages. There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states that pain in the body is the result of the stagnation of Qi, and stagnation of Qi is the root of all pain and this can be true about the creative process as well. In the end, we must trust that blockages will be resolved because that is the flow of the river, to move from yin to yang, dissolution to resolution, stagnation to freedom.
For more information, check out other blogs regarding the creative process, Chinese Medicine, mind-body connection, and medicine.
Many blessings,
