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Hello again! The pace is definitely heating up on this exploration of the patterns that show up in our lives. By paying attention to the stories that we hear we become more of the hero that we truly are.
Consider again the stories that you loved when you were growing up – perhaps fairy stories or myths and legends, perhaps children’s books, perhaps stories that your parents told you at bed time. Those stories contain archetypal truths within them – and particularly when we are young, more connected to the truth of why we are on this planet, more aware of our own destinies, and less world weary and cynical – those stories contain keys and pointers to what excites us. We may let go of those as we grow up, but we never let go of the dreams they hold.
I was particularly drawn to the Magic Faraway Tree (by Enid Blyton) – a magical world where a new magical and exciting land appeared every week at the top of the tree. That’s led me to understand my interest in exploring different truths, to looking for the magic, but never expecting to find it in just one place. It’s led me to welcome change, and embrace things that are never the same. Similarly, I grew to love superhero comic books and their promise of new powers, of greater potential for humanity – and their sense of right and wrong, of good against bad, of the opportunity for one man, be it Spiderman, Batman or Wonder Woman (or, better yet, a small committed group like the Avengers or the X men) to make a difference in the world.
So listen out for the messages from what you read, what you watch, what you listen to. Let those stories sink in and allow the truth to bubble to the surface. And start to step into your own adventure.
Last time we looked at the power of Love and the heroism of the Lover – exploring passion, commitment, and setting ourselves free to follow our bliss. This time we’re going to take a look at the last one of the Heroes of ‘The Journey’ – the Creator. Having met the power of love, we meet the power to create, to transform, to build.
The stage of the journey
The Journey has been about equipping us for a bigger role in the world. There have been trials and tribulations, struggles and challenges that have made us stronger, more powerful, more in touch with who we are and what we are called to do. And finally we have come into contact with the Lover – with the primal energy at the heart of the Universe. Now, armed with the motivation to Love, we can begin to build.
Once we have given ourselves permission to tear down all that is false in our lives – or at least begun that process, and knowing that our primary call is to Love, then we can begin to rebuild. We leave our jobs in order to create new opportunities – to discover new facets of ourselves. We kick out against the standards of a previous generation so that we can create a better world.
In truth, we have been doing this all along – we really do create our own experience of life – but now, perhaps for the first time, we become conscious of our own role in creating what happens to us. Like in “The Wizard of Oz” we get the chance to pull back the curtain and meet the wizard – and the wizard is us.
At a practical level, it’s obvious that our lives are a creation of the choices we have made. We are successful because we have chosen to be. We are in love because we have chosen for it to be so. And we choose our experiences of life too: we feel happy about a particular situation because we have chosen to feel that way about it – we feel sad because we have chosen to feel that way. All we can experience is contained within this single moment of NOW: everything else is a memory of once might have been, or an imagination of what might possibly be. The only reality, as Einstein realised, is now. Everything else is an illusion. So now is the point at which we have power to create something new.
Metaphysically, and from the science of quantum physics, we genuinely do create the world around us. Matter does not have true existence until it is observed – until then it is a field of potentiality – and so we genuinely do create reality from our thoughts. The power we have is limitless – and it’s this power that is poured into the heart of the Creator.
The nature of the Creator
It’s no coincidence that one of the greatest cries of our beings is ‘I’m not creative’. It’s never true – each one of us is deeply, fundamentally creative. We are made in the same nature as our Divine Creator, made in the image of God – and that nature is fundamentally one of Creation. Our ego, that shallow part of us that denies how incredible and glorious we are, would deny this – but that doesn’t make it any less true!
So at the heart of every human being lies the desire to create, to build. Every child finds it soon enough, building piles of bricks and cotton reels, acting out stories with dolls and cuddly toys. (Denied a gun by his foolish parents who were trying to bring him up as a peaceloving citizen, my eldest son bit a corner off a piece of fudge, held it up and shouted ‘Bang’. We surrendered to the inevitable).
The nature of the Universe is to fall into disorder – this is the Newtonian law of entropy, that disorder must always increase. We may suppress it, even hide it, but we are the counterbalance to that, as we bring order and creativity to the world. With that as part of our nature, it’s not surprising that if creativity is suppressed, it leaks out – and we find all sorts of creative ways to put off writing the book, taking up a musical instrument – or recreating the story of our lives.
Einstein asked whether we choose to live in a friendly universe or not. We get to choose whether we live in a universe that supports us..or one that’s working against us. When we choose to believe we live in a universe that is in some mystical way ‘on our side’ then we find things go our way, that we become ‘lucky’, and that synchronicity and serendipity work in our favour.
And of course we get to choose who we are – to continually recreate ourselves in the next grandest version of the greatest vision ever you held about Who You Are, as Neale Donald Walsch says. Believe me when I tell you that this is the greatest power that you have – and that if you believe you are stuck in your story – then perhaps it’s time to believe something different.
This is the story of Luke and his allies creating a New Republic – but also of him helping create a dream, a vision of a free galaxy.
The Goal
This is an easy one! The goal of the Creator is to create. That might be to create a new and more powerful life, to create a new pattern of work, an object of beauty, a story – or a new reality of any kind. Because creating is so close to our hearts, because our souls yearn to create something because it is so much part of our nature, we all find that goal in us. I’m fulfilling some of that in my life by writing this series. You’re fulfilling some of that in your life by reading it.
Primal Fear
With so much power in her hands, the Creator’s fear is getting it wrong. That in some way, the creation will be flawed. We fear becoming a new person that’s no longer authentic, no longer true to who we are. We fear creating a new world that will not serve – and having to tear it down again. And we fear that what passes for our creative imagination is simply the echoes of what we have heard elsewhere.
Response to the challenge
Curiously, when confronted with a challenge, the Creator takes personal responsibility for creating that problem – and that in a sense the creation is part of the Self. One of the Hawai’ian kahuna that I trained with, when working as a counsellor in a prison, would, instead of working with the inmates directly, would work on himself, recognising in himself the weaknesses and wrongdoing of the inmates with the mantra “I’m sorry, I love you, please forgive me, thank you”. His approach transformed the prison, which was one of the darkest places in Hawai’i, until it was closed because there were no prisoners to keep there ! (Dr Hew Len’s amazing story is told in “Zero Limits” by Joe Vitale.)
In order to deal with the dragon, the Creator is ready to create another reality, in which the problem is transformed into a solution.
A Heroic Task
The Creator’s task is to create – and the primary focus is not on others. The key to success is create yourself anew – to become greater, more incredible. In order to do this we need to drop the illusion that we are weak and powerless, and recognise the truth of our brilliance. For sure, we need to accept ourselves with all our faults and weaknesses – but at the same time we must accept our gifts, our creativity, our power, our ability to love. As Marianne Williamson has put it “there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.. we are all meant to shine..” You are amazing, powerful creative energy. Deal with it!
The Gift
Having accepted himself, the Creator can bring the same gifts to others – the ability recognise – and recreate – his identity. The Creator understands who she is – because she has chosen to be that. And the Creator has understood that vocation and calling is not something that descends from on high, but is called forth from the very centre of our being, at the deepest levels of our personal identity.
The Creator, too, brings a new playful creativeness – the ability to find a solution to any problem, to shine the light of new thinking, and ultimately to solve any intractable issue that has previously held a shadow over our lives.
The shadow Creator
We have incredible powers to create our own reality – but when stuck in a negative cycle of doom and gloom, we create worlds that match our vision of reality. The words we use become self fulfilling prophecies, bringing even more of the bad with them. We create limits around ourselves by the words we use “I haven’t got a degree”, “I’m too old” (or “I’m too young”);“I’m not creative” or “you need the right connections to succeed”. Yet it is easy enough to change our words – by rephrasing everything in positive terms, by believing that the Universe is on our side and speaking that forth, we change our lives.
And remember, too, that even God rested on the 7th day. We too need to take time out of our creative cycle to stop and think – to gain new perspective.
Levels of the Creator
The creator will be called forth by inspiration – it may be in dreams, or fantasies. It may be in images seen, or inspiration that seems to come from nowhere, or from all around. At first we may dismiss these, but they will persist, and as we allow ourselves to act on these hunches, then we begin the creative journey. That inspiration comes from a place beyond ourselves, from our deepest connection to the creative power, and as we open ourselves to visions, to intuitive hunches, then more and more creativity will begin to flow.
As we progress, we become comfortable with ourselves and our creative power – we move from being afraid to create something ‘bad’ (as if that were truly possible) and we can begin to understand what it’s like to have what you really want and create life the way you want it.
And as we progress, we begin to experiment with creating those dreams, and allowing those dreams to edge themselves into reality. We understand that the only thing stopping our dreams coming true is, perversely, our selves – our limiting beliefs, the words we use and the the corresponding lack of action.
The Creator’s story
The Creator is on a voyage of self discovery – building on the energy and curiosity of the Seeker, the Creator now has the opportunity to be who he chooses to be. Myth and legend is crammed full of stories of people who have gone to seek enlightenment in solitude or on a journey of discovery – or people who have chosen to change their stars, as William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) did in “A Knight’s Tale” by assuming the mantle of a knight.
Exercises and dreaming
What is longing to be created in your life? What’s stopping you taking the first step into creation? When would now be a good time to stop stopping yourself?
What beliefs do you hold that no longer serve you (if they ever did)? How are they holding you back – and could you choose to believe something different just for a moment…?
Allow yourself to have a dream. What do you want to do? What do you want to create? How do you want your life to be different? Ask yourself what you need to make that real. Then go and take action. Do one thing toward that dream today.
Next time
We’re stepping into true power now… next time we’re going to look at the Return from the journey – this is when it all gets magical and stars begin to align. You’re going to love it!
Until next time – enjoy the journey!
Find out more at www.timhodgson.org
PS – If you missed any of the preceding parts of the programme – then catch up here: PREVIOUS CHAPTERS
