Creative tension

A Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity discussion topic

Copyright 2007 by K. Ferlic,   All Rights Reserved

Creative tension
Origins of the creative tension
Desire - a doorway to the Source of Creation
Experiencing the creative tension of the intention for our life
Experiencing the creative tension as the desire to "plug in"
Experiencing the creative tension as the masculine and feminine
Working with the creative tension
There always will be tensions
The creation arising from the creative tension
Summary

For any creation to occur or manifest there needs to be a flow of energy to both manifest the creation and animate that creation during it life time. It is the creative tension within the creative process which generates the flow of energy. Without the creative tension, there is no flow. From a creativity perspective, the goal is to get the greatest amount of energy to flow that is possible. Hence, the greater the creative goal, the greater the creation tension and the greater the creative tension the more energy that is available to create what we desire.

The creative tension arise as a result of the separation of opposites or complements which somehow fit together to create a whole. The energy flows as a result of the tension caused when opposites or complement separate and move toward each other or as a result of some connection between the opposites/complements.

The creative tension in the creative process is much like the terminals or opposite poles of a battery. There is a separation of the electrical charges which gives rise to an electrical tension. The connection of those separated charges by wire are which allows a current to flow. We can say the wire grounds the higher electrical potential to a place of lower potential resulting in the current flow. In this regard, energy always flows from a place of higher potential to a place of lower potential and the tension and energy stored in the separation is dissipated

Energetically, the same things occurs within any creative endeavor. All is energy consciousness. For the consciousness to experience what it is, energy consciousness must somehow become separate into consciousness, an observer, and energy, or rather the manifested form of energy, the observed. In order for consciousness to experience what it is there is the need to create an observer - observed pair and this occur at whatever level of being is desiring to observe or be observed.

This then give rise to the fundamental duality of Creation. It is an ebb and flow of energy into and out of form. The ebb and flow is a result of the desire of consciousness for someone, something, or some kind of experience causing the separation and the longing of consciousness to return to the oneness or wholeness out of which it perceived itself having come. However, energy consciousness can never be separate from itself or truly separated either as consciousness or as energy. It is all simply the illusion created by mind for the experience of Creation.

Both the desire of consciousness and the longing of consciousness are experienced as a creative tension. This creative tension can be experienced as pain, a discomfort or uneasiness within, a longing, the desire for a mate to with whom to join, and a variety of other similar ways to describe it. The separation we feel which arises from the creative tension will causes us to seek a way to resolve what we feel. Yet, the only real relief from the tension is to surrender to the flow of energy released in the tension and allow it to lead our life. To move opposite the flow will only serve to increase the pain and discomfort creating further separation.

Relative to our creative endeavor, there will be a separation of some type perceived by consciousness which gives rise to a desire which, in turn, give rise to the creative tension. There will then be some type of grounding where a connection is made or the opposites in separation are allowed to move toward each other to allow the energy to flow to create or animate the creation. In our creative endeavors, the ground point is actually the object of the focus of our attention and awareness. The ground point is where the solution lies and the direction in which we need to move to obtain the fulfillment of our desire. Often when sexual overtones exist, the ground point is seen as a muse, a mate, or the beloved/Beloved,

Since the inner is reflected in the outer, the creative tension and the flow of energy will be experienced both internally and externally. What is different in our creative endeavors as compared to a battery is that we can feel the creative tension, we can feel the flow of energy, and we can feel the dissipation of the energy. Our mind often calls what we feel emotions. In reality, they are only the different aspects of the creative process.

The seed for any creation is determined by the focus of the attention and awareness of the consciousness which becomes the cause as it perceives itself somehow separate from what it desires. That focus of consciousness results in the flow of energy which gives, or will give, rise to the creation.

It is here the basis of the statement, "Desire is cause of our suffering" exists. It is when we come to think and believe we are separate from what we desire and our mind creates and sustains that illusion we feel the pain of separation. But we are not separate from our desire and never have been. In looking at the "Origins of Creation" all is just an illusion we are somehow separate from what we observe and desire. It just takes time for the existing form to dissolve and manifest the new. If we are willing to get go of our attachment to what we desire and trust the creative process we simply need to hold our desire without attachment and the creative process itself will move us to create and/or experience what we desire. Our biggest issue in letting go is that creative process as experienced in Physical Creation does not move as fast as we would like.

On the subject of creating pain, in addition to creating pain through our attachment to our desire, we create pain when we don’t let go of what needs to be released. Part of the process to create the flow of energy necessary for the new creation it is necessary to dissolve an existing form and return to the Source of Creation to free the bound creative life energy so that it may flow into the new creation. Associated with this return to the Source and inherent in the creative process is an experience of the sacrifice of creation and an experience of the chaos of creation as the existing form is dissolved. The energy, once freed, then flows into a form determined by the focus of the attention and awareness of the consciousness which become the cause. If we do not let go of what needs to be let go in during this part of the process we will cause ourselves pain.

What we need to realized is consciousness has a way of thinking and believing which no longer satisfies what consciousness desires to experience. It desires something other than what is. It moves in some way to satisfy its desire. When it become satisfied, the desire dissipates.

The importance of desire in creation is that the creative process starts with a separation within our being, a dissatisfaction with what is and a longing to close that separation is what fuels creation/Creation. That longing, that desire to close the separation, is the creative tension that will supply the energy for the new creation.

Desire, any desire, is not to be judged but understood and what is giving rise to the dissatisfaction for fulfilling the desire will ultimately lead us to the Source of Creation. We need to remember, each creative act causes the annihilation of the parts and the release of energy from that bound form. That free unmanifested energy is the Source of Creation and can be experienced as an experience of the Source of Creation if we hold the correct focus of our attention and awareness.

The creation process utilizes the opposite poles of the polarity or duality caused by the desire to energize a creation. The polarity arises because of the separation which has occurred. A tension is set up between the poles and if acted upon, the energy is allowed to flow between them. If you deny the tension and or suppress it in some way, we keep the energy bound in a fixed form and reduce the amount of energy available to create something new. We also deny ourselves the possible experience of the Source of Creation.

This process can be observed to occur at every level of being and will occur at every level of being. The deeper the longing, that is, the greater the separation, and the more levels of being that encompass the longing the greater the energy released when the two parts combine. That in turn creates a greater possibility of experiencing the Ultimate Accident and consciously experiencing the Source of Creation.

In the past humanity has used, and relied upon, separation, fear, anger and most often war to stimulate creative ideas and the obtain the energy to begin the creations into existence. Humanity has failed to realize in can use the desire for a muse, the beloved and the Beloved to achieve the same end in a much more pleasurably way.

It does need to be noted here, the concept of the Beloved is actually no different than the muse, soul mate or beloved. The main difference come from mental bias and what we think and believe what we feel is all about. That is, we believe that there are separate physical and spiritual realms and we need to transcend or some how seek that which is beyond the physical. As such, the we feel we cannot find fulfillment in a physical muse, soul mate or beloved. We believe we must transcend and seek God., whatever on concept of transcendence and God look like. Yet, if we look carefully the feelings are the same whether it is for the beloved, the Beloved, the muse or the soul mate. It is the feeling for that entity that can call forth our creative spirit and inspire us into creative action.

When we are focused on what we feel and focused outwardly but are unable to live the dream of the heart, we will experience a longing for a beloved/Beloved that can be experienced as a separation and a longing for a soul mate, for the Divine in whatever form we understand the divine, or simply a playmate with whom to share the experience we have.

The essential understanding of "beloved/Beloved" and the muse arises from the creative tension between the desired experience and what we incarnated to experience and experience we have. The separation between these two is experienced as the pull to the object, person, or attribute we seeks to manifest and can be felt and interpreted by the mind as though we are seeking a beloved. In remembering that our inner world is reflected externally, the beloved can be, and most probably will be, manifested in some physical object or person that represents this beloved. Yet, there will always be the inner longing for the Beloved if we interpret the feeling arises more from the unseen world than the seen or somehow feel and physical presence in our life will never satisfy the depth of the longing we feel. How we interpret the Beloved is, of course, our choice.

The creative tension of separation can also be experiences as the desire to "plug in" something which can excite them or something worth living and dying for.

We all have probably experienced that to create a flow of electricity to turn on a lamp or to operate an electrical device, there is the need to plug in into the electrical circuit. Similarly, to create a flow of creativity, there is the need to plug into our creative energy. Also, since part of our creative energy lies in our sex organs, it is only natural for one to feel they need to plug into someone sexuality to access their creative energy they need to create whether or not they perceive that other as muse or a beloved. Rather, it is just an awareness they need to plug into something and that something is perceived to be through sexuality.

As discussed in the topic "Sexuality and the creative process" all pairs of opposites which gives rise to a creative flow of energy can be seen as a masculine and feminine aspect within the creation process. For a creation to occur these opposite polarities need to come together and some how merge into a the new creation for their coming together is what supplies the energy. In much the same way as an electron and positively ionized atom come together releasing energy, so too with Creation. The energy released in combining becomes free to manifest the new creation, becomes the seed condition for that new creation to grow, or the flow of energy itself is the creation, the new life

From the perspective of wholeness, the masculine creates separation by thrusting outward only to surrender to the feminine to unite in oneness and wholeness. The feminine act is to nurture the desired creation and bring it into being. The masculine act is for mind to desire creating the separation and for mind then surrender to the heart and the flow of creative life energy that will manifest and sustain the creation.

An essential part of the masculine act of mind is to establish the connection with the feminine. It is the connection with the feminine that allows for the energy of creation to flow. That connection then must be held to keep the energy flowing until the creation is finished. The connection with the feminine is first established in by the mind in how it focuses its attention and awareness into or onto some internal or external object, though, or idea much as done in many mediation techniques.

Here we being a dance. We then surrender to that focus in that the gets reflected externally in how we act in the world to manifest what we desire. But stepping out into the world to manifest our desire is a masculine act. If we do what we think we need to do, then we allow mind to lead our creative effort and never enter the dance.. If we allow the feeling we desire to experience to lead the effort, we allow heart to guide our effort and we being the dance between heart and mind, the dance between the masculine and feminine. In a true creative endeavor, something which mind has never experienced, we should learn to navigate from the heart and allow what we feel to guide our path.

In thrusting out into the world to establish the connect what we seek we will find we need to return and plug into ourselves. We plug into ourselves in that in seeking to join what that external focus, we need to look inward to see if the way we are seeking what we do is moving us toward or away from the feeling we desire to create. Here the effort shifts from the masculine role to the feminine nurturing role onto and into the flow of energy moving to manifest the desired creation.

Ultimately what we seek externally is actually something we are seeking to reunite within ourselves as seen in how the inner is reflected in the outer. There are two levels to what is occurring. Whatever we seek outwardly, is only a reflection of an inner aspect of joining of our the inner masculine and inner feminine. The outward focus is represented in what we are doing externally to obtain what we desire.

What is important in seeing and experiencing the creative tension as joining the masculine and feminine aspects of creation/Creation is not so much the actual joining but the process of bringing the two together. The freedom in the process of joining the masculine and feminine is what creates the energy for creation and determines how much energy can flow.

However, it needs to be realized the process of joining sets up the an annihilation process which can be experienced as a death of some type. The annihilation is part of the required sacrifice of creation that must occur for a new creation to form. That is, in the joining, something of the masculine and something of the feminine is lost to create the new creation. What is lost is what makes the new creation possible.

In the creative process, consciousness will have the need for the opposite polarity and any piece of consciousness is capable of choosing what polarity it will become. That is, the masculine aspect which seeks or the feminine aspect which nurtures.

Consciousness in whatever form it find itself such as a male or female body, is neither masculine or feminine and always has the choice of how it will respond to the longing cause by the separation it feels in its desire. It can choose to become masculine and seek resolution of its longing. Or, it can become feminine and hold the longing within its heart allowing the universe to pull to it what it needs to satisfy the longing honoring the intuitive guidance it receives. In choosing the feminine and pulling to it what it needs it will also be choosing to become the fertile creative space. However, it will also need to surrender to where it is lead by the creation.

What also needs to be understood on this topic is that the creative tension within a particular creation process can, and will, cut across multiple levels of being. When we chooses to be the masculine, we will be the masculine across all those levels affected by what we desire to create and have to act on each level in some way that the creation requires. Similarly, if we choose the feminine, we will have to surrender to the creation on each level of their being. Another way of saying this is that if we are going to do anything we will have to have spiritual, mental, emotional and physical beliefs that allow us to act in all of those areas. For example if we desire to build a house but we feel we cannot dig in the ground for it is too sacred to build the foundation, we will be severely limited in the type and kind of house we can build.

Since this creative tension can exist at ever level of being the creative process occurs at every level of being, in conjunction with, or independent of, any other level of our being. When we begin to act whether as the masculine or the feminine, we will feel a flow of energy on each level of our being that is affected by the creation. This brings up an interesting aspect with sexuality for the creative tension for a particular creation may or may not influence our sexuality. Most people confuse the issue of sexuality as either a mental preference or a body need where as the sexuality that may arise around a creative process itself. That is, it is not something being chosen by the mind or the body. It is a by product of what we desire to creation.

Although the body’s need for sex, the mental creation of the desire for sex, and the sexuality as a part of the creative tension are very related, they are not the same, Additionally, the overall experience that we can have will be will be somewhat different, if not significantly different. Most have never look carefully at the body to see what it needs and have truly surrendered to the body. Similarly, few have never looked at their consciousness to see what it needs. The two, body needs and mental needs, become confused. Most don’t know which are which. Even fewer have looked at the role of sexuality in creative activities other than procreation. For many, the mere mention of sexuality being a by produced of our creative actions make little sense to most.

There are particular creation that needs both the body and the consciousness. However many body needs are independent of consciousness and there are many needs of consciousness that don’t need the body. However to have a physical experience, one needs a body. Similarly to have a creative experience in the physical world one will also needs a creative vehicle to have the experience and exactly what the vehicle looks like depends on the what is being created. Often we find the creative vehicle will be a collection of "things" or a collection of vehicles because we are creating an experience. For example to experience a baseball game it its fullness, we need at least two teams of nine players each, one to four umpires, and some fans to cheer for, or against, our team.

The body has needs and it, as a body, may have the need for a member of the opposite sex for the creation it desires to experience. What our mind, especially the enculturated mind, thinks about that body need has nothing to do with the need. If it is a true body need and we deny the need, the energy will become bound and the body will suffer in some way. The body has its needs and our body is not like any other person’s body. Our needs in this area will be unique to our body and we cannot judge its needs based on any external criteria or how we may think. We will have to learn to communicate with the body wisdom and find out exactly where the desire come from and what purpose it serves. We do this through what the body feels and the awareness which lies in feeling. For some of us, it will mean learning to moving past sexuality.

What we need to understanding, for some of us, the desires of the body may be the way that our unique body and consciousness finds it way back to the Source of Creation. It needs to be remember there is an intention for our life and our body is the perfect vehicle for that experience. The creative tension we feel in our body is often only leading us to fulfill that intention. On this notes, if the need of the body actually arise because of the mental programming we have received or come to believe, there will be a hollowness when that need is fulfilled and the source of the longing will not be dissipated. However, if it is a true body needs, there will be a contact with the Source and there will be an internal joy and bliss that doesn’t evaporate in fulfilling the desire. It is as though we move to a deeper level of being and contentment with life. When this happens, an annihilation of a part of our being will occur and a "new" energy is available within us.

Relative to sexual needs of the body and fulfilling a true body need, most perceived body needs in the area of sexuality as desires of the mind. Often the mind uses the body to maintain the mental need not to know and divert our conscious awareness from the longing within our heart to live our true creative passion to whatever mind is choosing with which to occupy itself so it can remain in control. If we explore the body and its needs and learn to use the body wisdom, we will being to see how controlling our mind really is. Sexuality for most people is a control issue and has nothing to do with the body, its needs, or creativity.

This brings up the issue of partners and how we create relationships in our life to deal with the creative tension we feel. We have assumed that a particular person or partner can supply our needs. But nothing can be more from the truth. What mind wants and desires is not what the heart wants and desires. Our challenge is to bring the two into alignment.

We look at what the human is in a very shallow way. Many of us think all we are is human - a physical body in the world with a consciousness or spirit/soul that can perceives and can change it environment to some degree. We do not see deeply. We do not see that humans are beings of infinite consciousness and the consciousness within, or behind, Creation has created an infinite number of playmates. It is rather narrow to think the depth and breadth of our creative needs can be satisfied by a single entity chosen by our finite mind no matter how infinite that other may be.

Individuals find there is an enormous number of times when one partner has a need of some type that the other cannot readily provide. If one provides out of obligation and denies their own truth for any length of time they will harm themselves and the other. We can only give what we have. If we give out of obligation, we give obligation. If we are hurt because we give out of obligation, we can only give hurt and obligation. However, if we can give out of unconditional love with no expectations of return, that is, we give because it is correct to give, we are able to prevent damage to our own being and will cause the other to expand and grow into the truth of their own being. If we give out of conditional love, we will damage ourselves and the other. If we do get what we expect in return for the love we give, we only increase our desire and ability to control the other. It is a self feeding loop. We give expecting a return and in getting it, we give again expecting more return. In doing so, we create and reinforce within ourselves and the other a world where only conditional love is experienced. In doing so, we find the longing arising from the creative tension only grows deeper.

We need to remember, each creative act causes the annihilation of some part of our being and the release of energy from that bound form. The freed unmanifested energy is the doorway to a conscious experience of the Source of Creation. All flows from the unmanifested Source. No matter how much energy or how little energy is release it is still the Source. The greater the energy released, the greater the experience of the Source. So every desire is only a longing to return to the Source and allows us to return to the Source when that desire is fulfilled. Desire, any desire, is not to be judged but understood for it will ultimately lead you to the Source of Creation. If we give in a way without conditions, we free ourselves and the other, In freeing ourselves we move close and closer to that free unmanifested energy at the Source of Creation.

There always will be tensions (Top)

There is a belief that is very strong in the world that harmony means that everyone agrees, everyone get along with everyone else and/or each does the same thing. However, from a creativity perspective, harmony may be best achieve by allow the tension between opposites to bring about a desired change and flow with the energy rather than oppose it Harmony is achieved in aligning with the flow rather than opposing it. To the mind and what is creatively harmonious may be judged as not good, unpleasant or undesirable. To the seed that dies, germination may be judged as undesirable death. To the tree that grows, matures and bears fruit creating a multitude of seeds, the germination of the seed is a most desired occurrence.

It needs to be clearly understood, creation is dualistic at its very roots because of the creation of an observer - observed pair within a context of creation to simply create the space for creation, To create within a common energy, there will need to be some separation or some type of separation that allows for the creation to manifest. For the creative tension to work we must fully trust the creative process and stick with the original intention in spite of what our mind thinks and judges about what is happening.

Within the energy consciousness understanding, any flow of energy can be experienced as a life. In this regard, any creation arises from a flow of energy and the flow of energy giving rise to the creation can be seen as a life unto itself.

As a life force, the merging and combining energies the energy of the masculine and feminine aspects whatever they may be in this creative tension is much like joining two strands of DNA where the strands become coupled and bonded together. Each part become integral to the whole and the new creation and the new creation contains what was in the original part. If two or more individuals come together to create some type or kind of new combination of their creative life energy there is a similar bonding process and the life they create from their energy is inherently dependent on each of them or all the parts. The merging is only the joining and annihilation of the parts into something new.

Some kind of separation from its source of nurturing energy can also be expected for the new creation to manifest. For example, a sperm and an egg merge and joint into a cell which grows into an infant that is born and separates from the mother. In this process there is an initial separation of the parents that is overcome to produce a merging and that merged energy in the form of an offspring then ultimately separates from the mother. One can expect the same type of process for any new creation. There will be the creative tension with a separation of some type for that new creation to go into the world. Additionally, as in any process where something is being created there is the need to let go of the old form. Otherwise, there will be some pain and that pain will be in proportion to how hard we continue to hold what needs to be let go.

In creating new life, and combining the creative life energies of two or more individuals is a new life. As a new life, there will always be some pain of child birth and/or pain in bearing of the child. How much pain depends entirely on how we continue to hold on to that which needs to be released. Additionally there will always be some type and/or kind of annihilation and subsequent separation experienced as a death. There always is a death of some type for the current form must dissolve back into nothingness only to re-emerge into a new created form. Accompanying this dissolution, as discussed in the cauldron of creation there may be a lot of symbolic heat and fire to dissolve and melt the old form. However, the pain of creation is only the need for the old forms to move and stretch past the limits and barriers that defined the old form.

The bottom line is that in the creation process there will always be a tension of some type. If we are aware of the tension and where we are in the process of creation, we will be better able to response to what we feel. Otherwise we may find ourselves trying to numb the pain or release the tension destroying the whole creative process in the meantime. On this point it needs to be noted most of our creativity is done nonconsciously and we are continually puzzled why we experience pain and discomforts in life.

Tension will always exist when we desire a new creation. If the dissatisfaction arises from what we think and what we want we can pretty well know what will be annihilated. Human history clearly shows and is full of stories where mind knows what it wants and how it will go get it. We only need to look at our mind and it will tell us.

However, when the desire comes from the heart, mind will not know how to relieve the tensions or use the tension for its advantage. One can only feel their way thought the tension and if they surrender to the tension and allow themselves to flow with the energy of the tension they will have a gentle creation process as possible. However we will have to be willing to give up whatever is required and we will not be able to second guess the creation process.

As discussed in "Five requirements to manifest an intention or desire" all we really need is set an intention then act to make it happen. To use the creative tension, we only need to hold an intention reflected in some object of focus. There must be something into which we seek to plug into or use to ground the flow of energy. There must be a joining of some type to complete the circuit to allow the energy to flow.

The concepts of the muse, soul mate, and beloved are secular terms which approximate the need for this external focus of our attention and awareness to call forth and energize the masculine creative aspect to rejoin the feminine. Seeking that muse, soul mate or beloved causes an energy to flow forth that causes us to act to move into the world to manifest the desired creation.

However more often than not, we seeks to capture and/or own the muse, soul mate and beloved rather than desiring the inner and/or outer offspring we can create with them which is representative of the manifestation of that flow of energy. If we capture and hold them rather than seeking to create and nurture that offspring, we end up causing deeper separate and squander the creative energy that would otherwise be available to create.

This is often why there is a tremendous creative energy as long as the muse, soul mate or beloved cannot be had. As soon as we reach and obtain them, the desire to get is lost in the contentment of having. We may find pleasure in our success but there will be a shallowness to what we obtain. We miss the full satisfaction of having for it is having the tension which exists in not having the object of focus which gives rise to the energy. .

If however, we seek the offspring, there will be a continual energizing for a new life would be created by the masculine and feminine and they could dance around the offspring continually calling the other forth to go deeper into what is found.

The amount of energy that can flow depends on how the we "construct the circuit" and how it is joined with it ground point. That is, it depends on how and what we think we believe as to how free the masculine aspect of our being is to engage the feminine to cause the optimum energy to flow.

In talking about connecting the terminals of a battery we talk about the size of the wire and whether the contacts between the wire and the terminal are clear or dirty with oxide. When talking about generating a flow of creative life energy and talk about seeking the beloved or its equivalent, it is about how free we are able to engage what we seek. It is about how free are we to engage them in our own mind let alone physically in the world. This is one reason why many do not get what they seek in looking to God for assistance. God if often seen as some authority figure we must some how please, placate and/or do what is in Its favor. That is not freedom and in such cases the creative life energy cannot flow. This is why the recommendation is made in the Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity understanding and material to engage in a creative endeavor and then talk creator to creator/Creator. The difference in the communication which is possible is like the difference between night and day.

Related topics
Sex and the creative process
The raw material of creation/Creation

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