Growing creative intelligence in troubled times
Creativity in service to life
About 10 years ago I had the opportunity to interview the late, great Sir Ken Robinson.
If you don’t know Sir Ken’s life work, championing creativity and imagination in education and society, his TED talk ‘do schools kill creativity’ is one of the most viewed ever.
Sir Ken believed that during times of growing societal challenge, our industrialised, systemised approach to education are stripping so many humans of their unique gifts and diversities.
He said:
“At the same time as we are draining our planet’s resources we are doing the same to our human resources “
He believed that in times of increasing complexity and challenge we need more creativity and imagination to face into this moment not less.
We need to be able to respond with our own unique creative gifts.
Makes total sense to me.
Creativity in service to life.
With the work of Becoming Crew, I often talk about ‘creativity in service to life’.
What do I mean by that?
Well, creativity in response to these times.
A creative response to unravelling, divisive, violent and destructive times.
I’m not speaking to the very recent commercialisation of creativity,
creativity in service to commerce,
creativity in service to consumption,
creativity in service to distraction.
I’m not speaking to creativity in a talented discipline way, that only some of us are ‘creative’, because we create sticky things that folks are drawn to.
Although there is of course beauty, place and need for all of that.
What I’m talking about is a creative intelligence.
An innate human quality within all of us.
A creative energy that these times are calling for, to be activated and channelled through us in our own beautiful and unique ways.
But it’s not something many of us know how to activate.
So how do you open up to your creative intelligence, how do you connect with it and how to trust it ?
How do you learn to channel it out into the world in these times?
This creativity in service to life, which could manifest in more classic creative expressions - art, writing, music, performance…
And can also manifest through this creative energy and intelligence - through holding space, through tending to difficult endings, through activating things in your community, through making difficult interventions in your workplace, through championing the rights of the more than human world, through bringing people together, through cultivating a patch of land.
It is I think our unique gifts and diversities that Sir Ken was speaking to.
This is all a form of creative intelligence and a creative energy that is being required, being asked of us.
So where does that come from ?
Well, from a few different places.
But the first, is the original creative source.
The Earth.
The living world.
Nature.
That is is the original source of creativity.
So part of finding and activating our own creative intelligence is by re-connecting back to what is alive in this world.
As an antidote to what is dying.
What is overwhelming.
What is causing violence.
Destructiveness and divisiveness.
Which is the decaying story of separation.
So to find this creative intelligence within us, requires a dance back into relationship with all that is alive.
With the living Earth.
With the world around us, between us and within us.
So part of finding and cultivating this creative intelligence begins with connection.
Practising a re-connection to the source, to the living Earth, to ourselves and to each other in new, deeper ways.
To grow our creativity in service to life.
This is at the heart of our 6 month learning course - ‘the remix’ - growing cultures of connection, courage and creativity in troubled times.
We have now confirmed and finalised all the details of the course here
Applications are open
If you’re interested to know more you can book a call with me to chat further
