The Spiritual Flow State of Independent Artists
The Spiritual Key to Living a Creative Lifestyle
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Kylan Stephon Hayes | Designer & Media Producer
What dictates the way that you live? Is it your work or your soul? Is the development of your mind, body, and spirit dependent on the completion of your work or is it the precedent?
One thing that I’ve noticed in the world is that for many independent artists, creativity is not priority in daily life. Rather, it's something people are forced to “make time” for or “carve room out of their busy schedules.” If you’re reading this, you’re likely an adult (or soon to be). You have responsibilities that take away from your creative time - that’s life.
Personally, I think this is a system designed by capitalism that’s doomed to fail. We collectively prioritize profits over the development of our soul - to our own detriment. What do we gain if we have the world but lose ourselves? What do we truly possess if we have millions without our essence? What life are we truly living if we wake up prioritizing survival every single day?
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Compromise would be my short answer. We do what we need to do to provide for ourselves and our families. Then we delude ourselves into calling it fulfillment while our intuition is calls for something deeper. We delegate creativity from our essence to the mere branding of a hobby.
My goal is not to provide a philosophical discussion or dilemma. My purpose is to reveal another way of living - a way of living driven by the true essence of the creative spirit.
You see, artists exist in the midst of two realms: reality and intuition. Reality is full of constraints, responsibilities, limits, and false priorities. Intuition is driven by something deeper. It's those visions you think about but don’t say. It’s like a life driven by shower-thoughts, for lack of a better phrase.
When we discuss creativity, what we are actually talking about is intuition. We’re talking about those moments of mental clarity that you can’t explain. We’re talking about those moments of understanding that come effortlessly - the flow state.
This state is transcendent to the core. It’s like when you’re engaged in your favorite art form and hours pass by like seconds. Every roadblock is overcome with ease, and each step forward builds momentum upon the last. It’s a different form of power. You’ve felt this and long for these moments of creative prowess.
Now imagine if this were your permanent state of being.
This state of living is not idealistic. In fact, I disagree vehemently against anyone who believes it's not possible. What I’ve just described to you is a lifestyle driven by your creative soul instead of work. This isn’t a lifestyle that neglects responsibilities. On the contrary, it empowers you to serve yourself and your family at a heightened mental state.
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How do you create this lifestyle? It sounds great on paper, but what can you actually do to live it? The answer is ruthlessly simple but takes work to actualize:
Structure your life around your creativity and spirituality. Do this instead of structuring your creativity and spirituality around your work. Now read that again.
Yes, it sounds simple on paper, but I want you to think about the way you constantly “make time” for yourself. Work is inherent, everything else is a matter of “finding time.” It’s an assumption and it’s a developmental pitfall.
The development of your creativity and spirit need to take precedent over your work. You are a child of God after all, not a product of the systems of this world.
This world is a lie. Everything we are taught is designed to rob us of our soul. We become so caught up in this idea of “becoming” that we forget to just be.
Don’t be childish either: you have responsibilities and bills to pay. However I believe we need to rethink the way we structure our lives around this reality. Maybe it’s time we give our spiritual and creative development the same power as our bills.
For many people, this seems far off. For the few, this seems like a call to action.
Only time will tell. Or rather, the results, the fulfillment, and the surreal level of productivity some people seem to possess supernaturally may offer a hint.
