Cultivating Creativity Through Mindfulness
Interview With Rodney Owen
By Frank Frontis
As artists engaging in the business of creative
work, we encounter high times and low spells; onkey moments, off-key ones; days we’re hitting our
strokes, weeks we’re missing them.
There may be a near infinite number of reasons
why we tend to fluctuate up and down, on and off in
our creative activities. However, by doing an honest
inventory of ourselves we’ll often find that a major
reason is because of the conflicts, tensions, stresses
and distresses we encounter in life. These appear
to be always ever present, robbing us of focus and
ready to tumble us down from our creative heights.
At such times, what might we be able to do to
re-establish ourselves back to creative altitude and
composure? The answer may be simpler than expected.… Being fully in the present and embracing the
moment connect us to our “core selves,” the source
of our inner order, unity, harmony--and creativity!
Such is the way of Cultivating Creativity Through
Mindfulness.
In an interview with mindfulness and meditation
practitioner, Rodney Owen, who is also a musician
and poetry writer, we’ll delve into the process of cultivating creativity through mindfuness. Additionally,
as teacher of, both, mindfulness and meditation at the
Center For Holistic Healing (High Point, N.C.) and
the Daishin Buddhist Temple (Thomasville, N.C.),
Owen’s theoretical understanding of this process
lends considerable expertise to the discussion.
______________________
FF: Hello Rodney-- can you briefly explain to
readers of SimplyElevate Magazine what Mindfulness is?
RO: Mindfulness is the practice of being present to
the moment as it happens, rather than being mentally
caught-up in the past or future and/or daydreaing
about anything other than the present.
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www.simplyelevate.com
Artwork courtesy of Pixmac
FF: In general, what are some of the ways
Mindfulness can help us?
RO: Scientific studies have proven that people who
practice mindfulness experience less stress, have
lower blood pressure, higher immunity, and adapt
to the ups and downs of life much easier. Addtionally, and what may be of most importance in this
context, mindfulness practice induces neurogenesis, or the production of new brain cells. You can
actually say that practicing mindfulness will change
your brain—for the better.
FF: New brain cells? That’s impressive…! Artist and creative types talk often about how being
relaxed and calm contributes to their creative
processes. This being the case, what could you
say about Mindfulness and its value to the creative process?
RO: Mindfulness practitioners speak of the “zone”
or the “sweet spot”, which is a state of superconsciousness, or above and beyond average consciousness. It’s the same place a musician is in
when he or she is absorbed in a performance or in
writing a composition. It’s the same place a visual
artist or writer finds themselves in when they are