RAISING YOUR C.I.Q.: The Care & Feeding of Creative Intelligence
In 1995, Daniel Golman impacted our world of education and psychology with his book, Emotional
Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than I.Q. The idea of an "emotional intelligence," along with
a way to measure and raise it, has inspired a wealth of new programs and possibilities for human growth
and fulfillment. I'm proposing a feature that postulates a "creative intelligence" and explores our C.I.Q.
Before we can discuss creative intelligence or a way to measure it, we must identify creativity.
In popular parlance, a "creative" person is someone exhibiting unusual inventiveness, cleverness,
talent or skills in the various arts, or displaying unusual artistry in a related field. Thanks to
Julia "Artist's Way" Cameron, we know that creativity belongs to all of us and is developable: but do
you realize that creativity is inherent in you every moment? It is a primal, mysterious faculty of being,
one that lets you make something happen at some level all the time, even while asleep and dreaming.
It is about the Artist, the Healer and even the Lover-of-Life within you awaiting your full awakening.
Think of your creative intelligence as your ability to use your imaginal and
rational MIND, your heart, passion and FEELINGS, your subltle ENERGY BODY along with your PHYSICAL body and
ACTION to bring about something you choose. This "something" may be choosing to just express yourself
(or your Self) apart from creating a product, artwork, or completing a task. Whether your choice is conscious
or not-so-conscious, you have exercised what might be called your Creative Intelligence. How consciously you
employ your Creator-given capacities, and for what purposes makes up your "C.I.Q." Whether you are a creative
genius part or full time, or someone whose lament is, "I'm not creative!" -being conscious of what develops
and feeds your creative intelligence will assist it's vitality and longevity.
C.I.Q. development levels also bolsters soul feeding: what is good for your creative feeling self is also
good for your spirit. This article relates proven ways to both feel more and actualize more Creative
Intelligence, giving secrets of creative genius and stamina, including simple exercises you can do.
The Three Little Words You Most Like To Hear: "You're Soooooo Creative!"
One thing that may help us appreciate the concept of C.I. is to regard Intelligence itself as more than a mental
phenomenon. If indeed the body is not separate from the mind, and bodymind continues to be a useful notion,
then we can invite both rational and intuitive mental faculties in with our body's immense sensory capabilties
at both physical and instinctual levels to arrive at an idea of creative bodymind. Further, if we allow our
emotions, feelings, heartfelt love, compassion and soulful leanings to intersect bodymind, or to be an integral
part of it, then we expand our concept of C.I. even further. Finally, if we include all that non material
dimension of our Being we mean by "Spirit," recognizing also our etheric or light body as essential to the whole
of "intelligence," we arrive at what this writer hopes to inspire by using a term such as "Creative Intelligence."
C.I. lies theoretically along an infinite continuum of possibilities for expression. On one end, we would find
the potential for pure unconscious expression of thought and action versus complete conscious awareness of what
we bring about as far as we could perceive. Another such spectrum would be the realm of pure self orientation
versus pure focus on manifesting for others. No bias is placed on one end of the spectrum being inherently better
than the other: all are part of Creator's World. However, we might place a value, for the purpose of measuring
C.I.Q.on our ability to be response-able about our marvelous capacity for creativity. This would suggest Awareness,
Heartfelt feelings and actions to be paramount to raising C.I.Q.
Which brings us right back to a soulful spiritual life and path: all those practices that increase awareness of
our moments, enhance our ability to be present with feelings, that help us express our best truths as openly,
honestly or bravely as we might, to inspire ourselves and others to Be our Best Selves -all these enhance and
develop Creative Intelligence.
KEYS TO EXERCISING CREATIVE GENI-US
- Proclaim yourself to be made in this Image.
- Dare to Dream your truest dreams -and to act on them.
- Remember how to play! Watch children and animals freely engaging.
- Purposely break with a convention you find restricting: practice harmlessness while you find a newer way.
- If you're an artist, try improvising a work with no attachment to your "outcome," Let something fresh and orignial and wild emerge.
- Go to the beach or hills and howl with a fullmoon.
- Dance naked in your kitchen.
- Come up with ten things you could do with an ordinary object (need NOT be "sensible"), then come up with five ways any of these might be converted into a valuable service.
- Invent something on paper you strongly feel/believe to be a necessity that doesn't exist yet. Convince one other person.
- Spend an entire day pleasuring yourself -consciously noting what the ingredients are. Note the effect on your creative juices.
- Treat your body as a sanctuary. It is.
- Treat your activities as life-giving -and they will seem to be. Next steps to Fulfillment will be more obvious.