This is going to be the first of a series of posts which discuss Julia Cameron’s Basic Principles of Creativity. I have printed these principles out on a sheet of white paper, and tonight (after illustrating them with pretty pictures) I am going to post one up beside my bed, and one up on my desk. I believe these principles are important first because they are true, and second because they are so open to interpretation. Each one will resonate with you differently, depending on who you are as a person and as a creator. Even if you’ve heard something a thousand times, sometimes there’s a specific wording that you’re just going to get.

So, without further ado, here is the first of Julia Cameron’s BASIC PRINCIPLES:

1. Creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy: pure creative energy.

If you’re not a creative person, or if you’re not partaking in a “creative career” you might disagree with this statement. First, let’s look at some definitions (courtesy of the Oxford English Dictionary).

Creativity:  “as relating to or involving the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something.”

Imagination: “the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses”

Natural: “existing in or derived from nature; not made or caused by humankind”

Energy: “the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity”

Order: (1) the arrangement or disposition of people or things in relation to each other according to a particular sequence, pattern, or method. (2)a particular social, political, or economic system.

Pure: not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material.

My scene study coach would love that I did this. You can learn a lot from looking words up.

What does this first sentence even mean? Creativity is the natural order of life. By “order of life” I think that she is referring to the way the world is run. What actually causes the hierarchy between individuals? What allows one person to make $100,000 a year, while another lives in poverty? Creativity. There is a lot involved in this word.

Even if you say that you’re not creative, I believe that every single person has the ability to be creative in the field which interests them. Creative people are not restricted to jobs in the story-telling industry. You can be creative in just about every job out there: design, business, engineering, law. Creativity has to do with thinking in a different way, which will allow you to happen upon a solution that no one has ever thought of before.

The only way we can move forward is by the invention of new ideas, new products, and new systems or beliefs. It takes creativity to come up with all these things. It took creativity for Steve Jobs to come up with the idea for the Ipad. J.K. Rowling required huge stores of creativity when she wrote the “Harry Potter” books and inspired a generation of young-adult readers. Walt Disney needed creativity when he came up with the idea for his theme parks.

Along with creativity, you must also possess the confidence to share your ideas with the world. The perseverance to say no when people try to shut you down, and an uncompromising belief in yourself which will allow you to push through (even when you feel like giving up). Creativity means demanding more out of your life, and not being content with mediocrity and living a certain way just because that’s the way the person before you lived their life. To use your imagination means to believe/see things that are not there. I want to work as an actor. There is no sure thing in my future. All I can do is use my imagination, and imagine the life I would like to have for myself. Then I must trust, and believe (with all that I have) that this imagined reality is possible for me. You must see it first. No one else will see, and they may not understand, but we do not live this life for other people. We live this life for ourselves. If this sounds selfish, I’m sorry… but it’s what I believe. You cannot help the world, if you do not first fulfill your own needs.

This is going to sound harsh, but obesity rates are rising every year. The self-help industry is worth billions of dollars. People are not happy. People are not fulfilled. This is because people are not creating. We’re told that working 9-5 for the majority of our life, saving for retirement, abandoning our dreams in favor of survival: we’re told that this is normal. IT’S NOT NORMAL! The only way you can ever be happy, is if you go after what you love. The only way to enjoy any success in your field, is to let go of control. Open yourself up to the creative powers of the universe. Quiet your mind of all the noise so that you can listen to your creative muse.

Creativity is natural in that you can’t create by thinking. Those true moments of inspiration occur when you don’t think. When you allow for magic and wonder to enter into your life. Life is supposed to be magical. Life is supposed to be amazing. You are supposed to be creative.

Life is pure creative energy. Money is not what we trade. Money is paper. It doesn’t mean anything. What we trade is ideas. That is the currency of life, and that is the currency that will fulfill you as a person. Sitting with a group of passionate people. Bouncing ideas and concepts and theories off of one another. That’s what creates abundance. This is what life is all about.

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt.

I thought this quote was a good way to end this little rant. What do you think about the first principle?