I recently attended a meditation with a group of people at Spirit Rock. It was an enchanting evening to sit with others, and hold a vision of peace and tranquility for all. At one point the facilitator made a statement that awakened in me, a quiet inner awareness.  It connected two ideas when combined, produced a profound and accessible spiritual practice.  This experience left me with a powerful question. 

Could we combine human creativity with human goodness?

I’ve been giving thought to that question ever since. My immediate answer was yes … of course. I believe that we are both creative and good. Then I considered how we would integrate that way of being into our lives. And I had to look deeper into what creativity and goodness mean.

It’s funny to define something like creativity, which by attributing an exact meaning negates its very essence. So I’m not going to define it, but merely describe it, so we can look into the nature of creativity. If I wrote the word CREATIVITY on a board and asked you what it means to you, what would you say?

Would you say inventive, resourceful, or original? I would say odd, wondrous, and unimaginable. We’re all different in our creative process. I worked with artists and product developers that truly amazed me in their ability to create something out of nothing. They would come up with ideas that surprised everyone including me, but once their work was in the world, it was like it had always been there. That’s the magic, the power of creativity. It’s the emergence of an idea that completes what’s missing. Try to imagine a time before cell phones, social networking, and GPS. Hard to do!

The beauty is we all share the ability to be creative and come up with new ideas about products, ways of interacting, and with life itself.

Creativity is hampered by fear and enhanced by interest. If you’re afraid to make a mistake, or have concern that you might offend someone … that will stifle your creativity.  The freedom to think is key. The freedom to break out of assumptions to unknown territory is essential, as is continuing through your life to reach out beyond what you’ve already done.

It’s useful to remember, you are creative.

What about goodness? Goodness is where the divine and creativity meet. It’s a word that can create in the listener a sense of someone’s innate kindness, generosity, and concern, for others. I see examples of it all the time. A stranger’s smile, feeding the homeless on Thanksgiving Day, someone letting a car take the spot in front of them, or a genuine act of forgiveness.

Goodness has a sense of being inherent rather than applied. It’s not so much about behavior as it is about a way of being. We talk about goodness as an innate friendliness. The best word I know that gets closest to describing goodness is a Yiddish word, mensch. You know there’s a mensch in the room because the room gets brighter with their presence, integrity, and honor. They don’t dole out their kindness just to some; they give it unconditionally.

Goodness is hampered by expectations of getting something back, whether it’s appreciation or something tangible, and is enhanced by simply giving the gift of yourself … giving the goodness you are.

It’s useful to remember, you are good.

Through this exploration of creativity joining goodness, I came to realize a practical spirituality in everyday living. If we could create good in all our interactions, then the world we live in, the families we love, and the companies where we work, would benefit.

So here are my 7 divine rules of practical spirituality that will help join your creativity and goodness:

1.   Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you
2.   Be accountable for your creation
3.   Laugh out loud as often as possible
4.   Love one another with all your heart
5.   Take a breather
6.   Listen longer
7.   Be happy

Have a wonderful holiday. I encourage all of us to be creative mensches this week!

My love goes with you as you work with this uplifting moment.