Dance like there’s no one looking!

I am doing a lot of thinking about flourishing and mindfulness at the moment. I am not certain that I can explain why. However they feel important.

This afternoon I was watching another of Chandi, from Expression Fiber Arts’ videos. There is something about her approach that I find both charming and engaging. She was talking about the way in which creativity is so important in our lives. It seems that we often think that we think that we need to be good at something in order to engage with it. William Purkey, an educationalist, who drew parallels between achievement and self-belief, is said to have coined the phrase, “dance like nobody’s watching; love like you’ve never been hurt. Sing like nobody’s listening; live like it’s heaven on earth”. If we sing and dance only for ourselves then we are more likely to enjoy ourselves and be creative.

Creativity is so important. Yet it appears that it is only associated with the arts and often includes negative concertations. However creativity is a very real way in which scientific and technical discoveries are made. Those that are generating new approaches to our use of carbons have to adopt a creative approach. They need to be willing to let go of ways of doing things that we have followed for decades and to attempt new approaches. This can only be done when people are willing to take a risk, to be creative and to try an innovative approach. I think that when we talk about creativity there is often an assumption that it means being detached from reality. Yet actually sometimes we need to detach in order that we can find a different approach.

Recent research has shown that creativity is good for our mental health and wellbeing. We need moments of Engagement or Flow, where we are absorbed in something to the exclusion of everything around us. I do sometimes dance when there’s no-one watching and I only sing when there’s no-one listening!

Knitting and crochet allow me moments of Engagement and a sense of creativity. My current knitting project requires a level of concentration because whilst it is a repeating pattern, it repeats over  15 rows and grows by one stitch every other row. So whilst I am working on it, the rest of the world is floating by. Which brings me back to Chandi. In her vlog she mentioned the work of an author, Michael Singer, who writes about, meditation, mindfulness and concepts of self. Her description of one of his concepts of observing and allowing things to pass, chimed with the work I have done with my mindfulness coach. So later I am off to look for his work. It sounds as though it may be interesting.

Until tomorrow…