Spiritual Tools for Hungry Souls

For years, I never considered myself to be creative.  I didn’t paint.  I didn’t sing (at least not well enough to get paid for it!). I didn’t pay a musical instrument… You get the idea!

But when I learned more about New Thought principles, I understood that we are all creative!

Here are some interesting thoughts about being creative from an article by Margaret Stortz published in the July 2019 Science of Mind Magazine

Be More Mindful

Perhaps it is a bit daunting to expect ourselves to be thoughtfully on board to what our minds are doing 24 hours a day, but we could be more carefully creative than we are. In fact, as continually creative as we are, we should promise ourselves to truly be more mindful, and there are practical ways in which to do this.

1. Know ourselves. Never was Socrates’ mandate more needful than in being honest with ourselves about how we think. Are we
imaginative? Do we make up stories? Are we filling in the gaps of what we don’t know with what we imagine to be so? We must remember that the nature of our minds is not to work selectively. The mind will take anything we give it to produce form, which means we need to “mind the mind” so that our mental faculties create what we want to experience.

2. Try not to freak out. This, of course, means that we should not get so worried or worked up that we lose control of our thoughts. Times of high excitement are one thing. Some opportunities for great animation definitely allow our minds extension into every colorful corner of ourselves, and we can become quite artful. Deep worry, upset or fear, on the other hand, can excessively increase negative outcomes.

3. Call a halt. If we find ourselves moving into mental states that are getting away from us, one instant device we can use is to simply say, “STOP!” Say it loudly, and say it often enough until the flurry of thoughts stop building into a catastrophe of our own making. The simple use of a definitive word or phrase allows us to change direction in our minds and perhaps realize what we have been doing to ourselves.

4. Move. Take a walk; go for a cup of coffee; do something that does not involve frantic action that will allow our bodies to help make a change in the scene. This can help a great deal in slowing everything down so that we can find ourselves again.

5. Talk with someone who cares. We are, by nature, more social than not. Perhaps we aren’t up for crowds, but it is good to have some special people who will hear us without judging us or trying to fix us, those who will receive our words and perhaps mirror them back so that we can know what we are saying to ourselves. Best of all, perhaps we may have on hand someone who will pray on our behalf so that we deliberately call the Infinite Healing Presence into play.

The name of the game is to return once more to affirmative, creative thinking and harmonious living. As spiritual beings at work in the world, we owe it to ourselves and our surroundings to bring the best of ourselves into the fray each day. As Jones says, “Our lives evolve because it is the nature of the universe. So, get out of the way and allow yourself to develop.

Learn more about Margaret Stortz.  Or check out her book:  Essays on Everything: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous with a Little in Between