Creativist Society

Why the evolutionary agenda makes Creativists out of all of us

by Christiana Söderberg, Open World Foundation, @choicesoflife

Some days back I attended a fascinating talk entitled “The Next Step - Creating New Spiritual Values for Our Culture” held by Andrew Cohen, Founder of the EnlightenNext Magazine, a publication dedicated to discussing the human evolution process and where it is leading us.

Up until this presentation I hadn’t been aware to what extent I was a product of my own culture. Cohen spoke of the different cultural stages Western (!) society had gone through during the past decades, ranging from ‘Traditionalism’ to today’s ‘Post-Modernism’.  

The cultural context clarified how it is we look at individuals and their purpose by reminding ourselves of the two biggest questions asked in the study of philosophy and spirituality – WHO am I and WHY am I here?

In pre war times, during the ‘Traditionalist’ era these questions normally wouldn’t cause the anxiety they do today. Back then men and women had their well-defined roles within society, which was feeding them the answers they needed to lead peaceful lives.

As you may sense yourself, today the game is a different one. 

We live in a time of infinite options and information overload; my personal experience has mostly evolved around the difficulties of deciding what’s supposedly “right” or “wrong”, in many ways the world feels upside down. 

How come? Post-modernism has placed a great value on the opinions of the individual as well as his or her right to happiness. 

After all, we are told we are highly unique and entitled to be happy whilst we walk on this earth – it’s a cultural message that very much caters to our egos and has conditioned the way we relate to the world around us. 

So what happens when we look beyond cultural conditioning, what do we find? 

Cohen said this is where the “real you” resides, with its real agendas and its real purpose. 

To add a sarcastic touch (uplifting given the topic), Cohen at this point asked us to picture the almighty creator (or whatever you think may have initiated the story of life) dwelling on a purpose to create the universe in the first place – would he / she / it have done it for the mere sake of making us happy? 

One would hope the grand reason behind all creation would be more important than simply addressing the fears and desires of the ego.

Further looking at the big picture, our presenter then elaborated more on the force that originally kicked off the big bang. For the sake of visualization you could refer to this force as ‘God’ or ‘Higher Energy’ – Cohen kept it all rather neutral by calling it “the creative process” (i.e. “The creative energy and intelligence that drives the evolutionary process at all levels of existence”).

He then maintained this same force is to be found in all of us as humans form part of the eternally expanding universal energy – it’s how we partake in the process of evolution.

Now can you guess how this force manifests itself in a tangible way (through us) in the physical world?

The power of (personal) creation is the answer!

I was just as pleased as you, dear Creativist must be right now. Hearing this was life’s purpose and mission and meaning explained to me in a way like never before.

“The truly joyous moments come about when creative powers come to the front, they begin to overtake personality. A force comes through you to give rise to something new and miraculous.” – Andrew Cohen

I could very much resonate with this account, i.e. when you feel like something bigger than yourself is happening through you and you can’t help but just let it burst. Cohen further explained that “the most creative people are the ones driven by ecstatic urgency and that the liberation of creative potential would become a new spiritual ideal in coming times.”

Moreover, he shared a great example about the consequences of living a life out of ‘ecstatic urgency’ as he spoke of one of the greatest leaders in modern history – Martin Luther King. Try to picture concerned friends and family approaching Mr King as they may have thought he was ‘overdoing it a bit’ on the whole ‘African American Civil Rights thing’. Imagine them going “How about you take some time off, maybe hit the beach for a few days…take a chill pill, dude?”

Surely the guy didn’t pick those fights for personal happiness but because of a sense of urgency within him that just had to break free. And for his seemingly larger-than-life efforts, he has gone down in history (even risking his life for it).

So if you happen to find yourself in a situation searching for a deeper passion in your life but find it odd this pursuit hasn’t delivered the expected dose of happiness, then be not alarmed - you are simply a loyal culture – abiding citizen. I think I dare say most of us are victims of a culture that tells us happiness should be our highest aim, but only until we become aware of what’s actually at stake here. At this moment we can choose to step out of our daily ego control dramas (needing this, wanting that etc.) by reminding ourselves of the bigger agenda, the one that makes conscious Creativists out of all of us.

Wishing you Happy Creations from a Creativist honoured to be part of this community.