Soulful Sundays: Creative

“Every truly creative act is an act of rebellion against the universe.”—Mark Schorer

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the amount of entropy (disorder) in an isolated system can never decrease. Assuming that the universe is an isolated system (a big assumption indeed!), it follows that order is only decreasing or, at best, remaining the same. What does this mean for the creative act, then? Is it possible to create order in a world that is destined to fall apart? Are there sources of energy that extend beyond the material?

The first hexagram of the I Ching (The Book of Changes) is Ch’ien, the Creative. Its six solid yang lines represent the purity of the cosmic force that spoke all into existence. Ch’ien is the Heavenly Father, the sun, the giver of light and energy, and also the agent of change. It is the power contained within each of us when we accept and act in accordance with the higher order of the universe, thus becoming superior men and women. Through channeling the Creative, we become creative. When we act according to our own selfish plans, we break this link to Heaven.

There is a striking relationship between the brain activity associated with depression and that associated with excessive focus on ourselves. Egoistic desires produce unfulfillment. Whenever we get caught in this spiral, there is only one way out—realignment with the Creative. Energy spent on a truly creative pursuit is never wasted. Extend that creativity until it reflects the cosmic order, and we return to the realm of thermodynamics: entropy may decrease within a system only through an exchange with something outside that system, the Creator of that system. Tune in to this, and there are no limits.