I recently read an article about Martha Beck’s new book, Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose, that has caught my attention enough to ponder its main idea further and its relevance for facing the times in which we live. Beck explains that creativity and curiosity can operate as antidotes for anxiety. If we understand that anxiety is an internal response to our own pattern of thinking, then we can gain some degree of control over it by changing the way we think. This is especially true if one easily gets caught up in a self-sustaining anxiety spiral that keeps one’s attention on potentially threatening or destabilizing situations. Interrupt the pattern of thinking and the anxiety will subside. (And it might help to stop watching the news for a while.)
I have not read the book myself, only parts of an interview with the author, so I cannot explain how it all works. However, I have struggled with anxiety my entire life, and I also have a curious and creative mind. So, my reflection mostly has been about the truth of my own experience. When I am in a creative “groove” or all-in on learning something new and interesting, my anxiety levels are relatively low. When my anxiety levels are high, my energies for creativity and curiosity are depleted.
Beck explains it this way in her interview cited in the article mentioned above: “Creativity engages the right hemisphere of the brain, which helps to shift our attention away from left-hemisphere-located anxiety. Instead of crunching us into a tiny prison of fear, creativity motivates learning, opening us to the whole universe. It grants access to a pathway to transcendence, which comes when a creativity spiral formulates an experience of flow that is the opposite of fear. I believe that’s the way we should be living most of the time.”
When Beck talks about the experience of “flow,” I know exactly what she means. I have experienced “flow” in the middle of many various art projects. It feels like a peaceful release into the hands of God. The artwork, or whatever I am laboring over, almost seems to create itself as it is meant to be. And, when I am finished with the project, I find myself dumbfounded by the results. “How did I do that? Did I really do that? I probably couldn’t do that again if I tried.” I think of flow as being caught up in the movement of God’s grace and allowing it to dictate everything that happens with absolute trust and freedom. There is no fear of failure or judgment or criticism. Mistakes happen, but they are dealt with as if they are just part of the creative process, which they really are. (Many of the blogs that I write happen in the same way. I give the Holy Spirit all of the credit all of the time!)
Striving to live in this kind of surrender to God’s grace all of the time, no matter what we are doing, may seem to some as a pipe dream. But, I think of it in terms of what St. Teresa of Avila calls spiritual union. It isn’t something we can attain for ourselves. It is the gift of grace. However, we can open ourselves to the possibility. We can make intentional moments of surrender and release. Furthermore, we can make this intentional act of surrender a regular practice in our lives. Consciously placing our trust and hope in God’s power and presence as often as we can ought to predispose us experiencing “flow” in whatever we doing. If even this seems too difficult or outlandish, then consider adopting a new habit creative activity or a new practice of curious learning—welcoming something new into your life with eagerness and excitement.
By Sister Therese Haydel, OSB