Creating from the soul and from the ego

This is a fascinating topic.  It is really the topic for a whole book.  This will be the my first article about this theme and it will be mentioned in other posts, since this happens every day in our lives.  It is a battle that man kind has to face daily.  It is a battle that is won ONLY when  we recognize if we are acting reacting/acting - making/creating from our ego or our divinity.

Here is a little introduction.

When when 'react' from our ego, we might think we are creating.  We are not.  We are making something destined to protect us from ourselves, from fears, from self criticism (or criticism from others).  We make things from FEAR, we make things to sell, to be bought or accepted, we make things for other people to tell us how good we are.  We want to be good.  We hate criticism (our ego cannot take it).  We are afraid that we are making might not work this time.   Since when we are a'reacting' from the ego we are in total fear, we are not CREATING, we are reacting to a mental thought, to a mental goal.  This goal is always subjected to failure, this goal is born from insecurity.  We are not creating.  We are playing 'ego' games.  We might be succesfully (monetarily) and famous, since we are still connecting to others.  Our 'art' will still connect to others that will tell us how good we are.  But the ego will turn on us pressuring us about staying that good, o, even better!  more people to satisfy in the future, more pressure, more...more..!!  And then one day we do not connect any more.  Someone else is better.  And we cannot take, we get depressed, we get blocked, we get in total fear.  EGO IS FEAR!!!!!

When we CREATE  from our soul, our heart, we are connecting with our divinity ( I am not being religious here) We are interpreting something, a place, people, concepts, and we are making them physical forms for the senses.  We connect with people to a different level.  We connect with their spirit (they might think they are not spiritual) but their soul connects with ours.  Some people even get tears when they come in contact with something so beautiful.  Then our art bring the best feelings, the best thoughts the best reactions  en people.  When we create from our heart, soul, divinity, etc, our ART comes from real inspiration (force from the spirit).  We are not interested to impress anybody, but we connect almost with everybody, we connect to their most sublime senses.   When we create from this energy we are artists, we are original, we do not need to copy anybody.  Success very often happens here, but not because we are looking for acceptance, or looking for money specifically, but because others want to have what we offer and want to keep connecting.  We also take risks to take different roads, to create new, sometimes our heart does not want to do what commercially is accepted.  We dare to do something new all the time (that is originality, is it not?), because an artist is always ORIGINAL (He/she is the ORIGIN what is being expressed.)

The ego es  NEVER original, since it is always pleasing oriented (ourselves or others), the ego lacks originality and spontaneity.   A lot of artists that are ego/reactors that are successful started their career being real, original, and got stuck in the fashion-ego-pleasing-selling- stream.   The fall is pretty hight (and hard) when things do not go our way anymore).

Why do I know this.  Not from books, although learning has help me recognize  this facts.   I know it because I have been a MAKER and a CREATOR throughout my life.  I have been in the stream of the ego trip (success and failure) and I have been in the stream of real people, creative people.  I have taken the artist road, although very often I slip to the ego made pavement.

I can recognize how I act artist, perform, ego.  And when I do, I can take myself by the hand and take my to the right place.  The place where my heart performs, the place where my artist lives.  I do hav, however, to work on this, by meditation, prayer, introspection, to keep going back to me the original me, and to 'catch' the ego in fraganti when is trying to posses me!

I understand this topic is very controversial, specially for artists, please comment.  Your comments are very important in this blog.  They are the energy of this blog!

The Ego, however, is not who you really are. The ego is your self-image; it is your social mask; it is the role you are playing. Your social mask thrives on approval. It wants control, and it is sustained by power, because it lives in fear." 
— Deepak Chopra (The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the 


Love art in yourself, and not yourself in art."
— Constantin Stanislavski (My Life in Art)

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Jesus

The more we let go of the ego the more room there is for our divinity to sshine through.  We become minful of the unity in all things.  Our consciousness expands, and existing insights come to mind.  Where we step into our divine self, we are opened up to te many choices and opportunities that our soul provides.

James Vaan Praag.