Daniel's notes on The Creative Act

The gift of awareness allows us to notice what's going on around and inside ourselves in the present moment. And to do so without attachment or involvement. We may observe bodily sensations, passing thoughts and feelings, sounds or visual cues, smells and tastes.

When you're working on a project, you may notice apparent coincidences appearing more often than randomness allows almost as if there is another hand guiding yours in a certain direction. As if there is an inner knowing gently informing your movements. Faith allows you to trust the direction without needing to understand it.

Look for Clues. Material for our work surrounds us at every turn. It's woven into conversation, nature, chance encounters, and existing works of art. These transmissions are subtle: they are ever-present, but they're easy to miss. If we aren't looking for clues, they'll pass by without us ever knowing. Notice connections and consider where they lead.

Small rituals can make a big difference. We can decide to take three slow, deep breaths upon awakening each morning. This simple act can set a course to start each day still, centered, and in the moment. We might also eat our meals mindfully, slowly savoring each bite with appreciation. Take a daily walk in nature, looking at everything entering our field of vision with gratitude and connection. Take a moment to marvel at the feeling of our heartbeat and the movement of blood through our veins before sleep.

The purpose of rituals is not necessarily in the doing, just as the goal of meditation isn't in the meditating. We are building the musculature of our psyche to more acutely tune in. Awareness needs constant refreshing. If it becomes a habit, even a good habit, it will need to be reinvented again and again. Until one day, you notice that you are always in the practice of awareness, at all times, in all places, living your life in a state of constant openness to receiving.

Consider submerging yourself in the canon of great works. Read the finest litera-ture, watch the masterpieces of cinema, get up close to the most influential paintings, visit architectural landmarks. There's no standard list; no one has the same measures of greatness. The "canon" is continually changing, across time and space. Nonetheless, exposure to great art provides an invitation. It draws us forward, and opens doors of possibility.