Peace as a Creative Act
While calm and contentment may happen spontaneously, peace is no accident. Peace implies a stability or continuity of calm and contentment. There is a skill in the ability to locate and sustain these feelings, as well as to carry them into interactions with our own minds, relationships and environment. If peace were a flower, I like to think of it as a hardy variety- one that could stand up to bitter frost or withering heat. In our lives a peaceful mental state must be intended toward, as it requires attention, energy and also creativity to sustain peace. Habitual ways of thinking may not offer roads to peace in novel situations. Given the various crises facing our world, it is vital that we all reflect on our intention toward peace and its meaning in our daily lives. We certainly swim against the current to move toward peace, and this is part of its hardiness, as we can always fortify our ability to cultivate peace with our intentions, thoughts and actions.
Among the hallmarks of creativity are novelty and innovation, as sometimes even a rearranging of ideas might spark a significant change in the way we think, feel and relate. In psychology the word stimulus is often defined as what prompts a behavior, while the word response is understood to be the behavior that is enacted following the stimulus. When our behaviors are enacted automatically, we may lose the opportunity to orient and move toward peace. The space between stimulus and response is a powerful and creative space. If we don’t attend to this space, we might miss a window to respond skillfully, and to reflect on our orientation rather than make a knee-jerk automatic reaction, or rely on habits of mind or behavior that have more to do with the past than the present.
It is clear that without space between the intention, thought and action, we become automated and habitual in a mindless sense. We might miss opportunities to listen, observe, or take in important information about ourselves and others. In yielding to habit we may miss either small details or the view offered by a larger perspective. Without this space we may therefore limit our capacity to see with new eyes, and to respond flexibly to difficult situations. Perhaps most importantly, calm and contentment are quiet. They are easily drowned out by more compelling experiences or a drivenness toward the planning and doing that might otherwise fill our days. It requires attention and perseverance to orient to the softness, ease or settling, which support a peaceful state.
Ironically, perhaps one of the most powerful ways to initially orient to psychological peace may be in not doing, and thereby making room for the creative space between stimulus and response. Psychotherapy offers such a space, as there is room for every variety of mental content and emotion. This space to reflect on thoughts and beliefs is extremely valuable, and even everyday routine tasks can provide such space to pause and reflect if we bring our awareness and intention to everything we do. Whether in psychotherapy, meditation or everyday reflection, the moment we pause, most of us are met with a flood of urges regarding what we could, should or simply would rather do than make space for awareness while we simply observe thoughts, feelings and events around us.
Interestingly, we are often faced with some of our habitual obstacles to peace when we dwell in being versus doing. This space also makes room for us to see our habits in thought and behavior patterns. These recognitions and insights may be uncomfortable, but they can also become the fuel to redefine limiting or outdated assumptions about oneself, others and the world. Even the question about when, where and with whom we are most peaceful can be very revealing. Self-inquiry as to whether my actions align with my value for peace are also useful, and often very humbling.
For many people, creativity is an aspiration that goes beyond our work related endeavors and extends to a way of being in the world. Our habits do not have to define us, and it can be refreshing and empowering to extend our comfort zone to see ourselves, others and the world through eyes of creativity. What might warrant exploring within yourself? How are you different from what others might expect? What do you value most? At times, the psychotherapeutic endeavor is to understand the way we have come to relate to ourselves, others and the world in order to become clearer, as well as more flexible and peaceful. We do not have to abide by habitual past behaviors or the way others might see or define us. We can begin by making space to create more peaceful relationships with ourselves and extend this to our relationships with others and our world. Growing the hardiness of peace should strengthen your connection to any tranquil interior landscapes in order to make such experiences become portable and translate meaning to more complex and challenging situations.[i]
[i] Frankl, V. (1962). Man’s search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy. Boston: Beacon Press.
Goldberg, E. (2018). Creativity: The human brain in the age of innovation. Oxford University Press.
