Celestial Journey, The Voyage of the Creative Spirit

Sixty-three motivational and inspirational short essays on living a creative life written in an easy to read, engaging style. Bestselling author Aliyah Marr takes us on a transpersonal and transformative journey exploring creativity and genius, psychology creative ability, and the inner child. For those who know that the way to self-actualization is through the medium of art, any art. Whether you are a creative writer, a journalist, visual artist, musician/composer, computer artist, graphic designer, architect, screenwriter or actor, you know that your art is what makes you want to get up every day. It is what helps you face the world, or rather, it helps you transform the world.

This book is for those intrepid explorers of human expression: artists. It doesn't matter what field you choose—whether in the arts or sciences—if you do it in the attitude of curiosity and passion, you are an artist, or what I call a "conscious creative." You are not satisfied with the status quo; you find your own answers. You forge your own path.

*** Excerpts from book ***

The Unbearable Lightness of Creative Freedom
The creative attitude is one of limitless opportunity. Think of an open space, a clear horizon representing endless possibilities. A creative person is standing at the center of the universe, with infinite paths going in all directions; the unknown is exciting, and the path chosen is simply one of personal predilection.

The Healing Power of Art
These days it seems everyone is experiencing changes. Changes often evoke fear; if you find yourself in a dark night of the soul, you may find it very difficult to make good decisions.

The brain reacts to fearful circumstances by shutting off the blood supply to the higher functioning parts of the brain; automatically shutting off creativity, and openness at the same time. The brain does this so that the entire person may survive adverse conditions without getting frozen in abstract thought. Anxiety generates the same reaction in the brain, preventing creative thought.

So what can one do when the brain is caught in the wheel of fear or anxiety? One of the best ways out is through expression in art. I have discovered—as have most artists—that it is best to know what is bothering you, and I use art to bring it out in the open. Once it is out in the open, it has a chance to no longer be in you.

As an artist you can choose any kind of creative activities to explore an issue, and thereby lighten your mood. In the process, the artist finds unsuspected resources that have nothing to do with what we normally associate with ourselves, with our conscious thoughts and identity.

Art as personal therapy—like the blues in music—has the power to transform the artist: it can change his mood, his outlook on life, even his future. But beyond healing the emotional landscape of the artist and viewer, it has a direct effect on the evolution of the entire person.

I have an idea that the key to finding our love—our passion—lies in redefining what passion means. The heart yearns for passion because it is what feeds our soul; it keeps us young and vibrant. The heart senses this, and so it looks for it in the reflection of what our society calls love.

Creative Writing, Journal writing, Art, Dance, Graphic Design, Architecture, Theater, Music, The Creative Life, Individual Artists, The Life of an Artist, Motivational and Inspirational, Creativity and Genius, Psychology Creative Ability, Self-Help Inner Child, Self-Help Creativity, Self-esteem, Happiness, Transpersonal Psychology, New Age Self-Help, Counseling and Psychology Gestalt, Humanistic Transpersonal, Cognitive Neuropsychology