Spirituality & Creativity

So what is spirituality?

Every time someone asks me I flounder - it's such a huge concept it's difficult to define. It's very personal too - you might put it a completely different way and the magazine will give opportunities every month for personal viewpoints.

But here goes:

Spirituality is the sense of something else - something both beyond and within our world but in another dimension, another energy, another consciousness

You're in touch with it when you have the sudden, magical feeling you're connecting with something wonderful - something other than our usual down-to-earth experience.

You'll know when you're "in touch" with it because it feels like nothing else. But it's not always the same feeling - moments of connection happen in so many ways...

Sometimes it's a moment of awe when you see or hear something incredibly beautiful
Or when you look at a loved one and are overcome with thankfulness for the tenderness that floods through you
Sometimes you listen and know there is a God - a higher power of a goodness beyond our understanding
Sometimes it's to do with nature - when the wind in the trees sounds as though angels are flying through them, their wings brushing softly against the branches
Or when you look at the stars and touch heaven.
Other times, you sense the other dimension, quite unexpectedly, right in the middle of office or house work.
It could be when you're aware of what someone else is feeling or thinking. You're on the same wavelength suddenly. You connect, soul to soul.
It could be when you're painting or dancing or being creative in any other way - a sense it's bringing you in touch with the universe or flowing through you from your creator.

How does it feel?

When you tune in it can feel so amazingly wonderful it takes your breath away, or it can just be a gentle glow of awareness. It may be a revelation of understanding. Other times it makes you feel like purring in the deepest, most perfect contentment imaginable.

However it happens to you, it's a lovely but sometimes awesome feeling.

And we all have the ability to connect with it.

Can everyone be spiritual?

I think so - all we need to do is to want to tune in and give ourselves the chance. There are all kinds of ways to practise, for instance, meditation, prayer, reflection and simply listening to our own minds and others', including our pets. And through our creativity.

Is there truly a link between spirituality and creativity?

Yes - definitely. And it's a major theme of this website and magazine.

Many of the greatest artists have spoken of the way a kind of energy from another dimension flowed through them as they worked. Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms and Matisse, for example, all said their work flowed into and through them, and many of today's contemporary artists of all kinds feel the same and tell of the extraordinary feeling of connection with this other energy - which I call God - when their work goes well.

It's a fascinating and exciting subject and, with so many great minds thinking and writing about it, we'll be bringing to each issue more views and explanations - a nourishing stream of ongoing inspiration.

If you would like to express your thoughts, please enter our regular competition for the best article on spirituality or creativity, or the link between them. See Competitions.