Stress   |   Illness   |   Self-Creativity





Perhaps the best way to understand the power of human creativity is to take the example of love.


Love qualifies as a creative "force" because:

(1) It lends power and makes things happen

(2) It runs off its own power (in other words it's "self-fuelling")

(3) It has an innate generosity - and requires no promises or payment

(4) The more we "make use" of it, the stronger it grows


But here's the crucial condition: if we're to enjoy its assistance, love needs to be trusted - and allowed the freedom to express. In other words, love needs to be given its own space in our mind and in our lives - and not interfered or argued with - if we're to have its company and intelligence.


After all, real love is borne on its own waves and comes ashore on its own tide. It’s only when we yield to love that it can be a true force, enough to wash away our pain and liberate our relationships and mind.


What leads us to underestimate love is the assumption that it’s powerless, and that power and wealth come only from dominance (the kind for which compulsive desire has us lust, and in whose name fear and anger land us in squabbles and games of conquest).


“Stress forces” like those work to impose themselves. Where we fall for their tall tales, we end up with a false notion of power and worth. We can find ourselves in thrall to fear & Co. that install themselves as rulers over all (and even over ladies and lords).


When love and power mesh, our power is inside of us, being wedded to love. That’s when we’re armed to take our self back into our own possession and charge. Indeed, standing up to “stress forces” like anger is a sign of real strength, as explained by Oskar Schindler in the film Schindler’s List (1993): “Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don’t.”





To win back the love-power connect, we must stop letting stress call the shots. Instead, we can see love as our purpose. Imagine the difference that this might make...


Think of how em-power-ing it is for a child of ours
To be freed from petty bribery, and showered
(Instead of being frowned and glowered at)
In the love that’s safe because it’s there every day;
Whether the sun shines bright or the skies are grey,
And not just... in bursts of shallow praise,
Only when her exam grades come back as A’s.