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FROM CREATIVE RAIN TO CREATIVE SPRING
Dear Abbas !
Over the years I have come to the realization that I am
happiest when I am writing and creating.
There was a time I used to experience creative rain. I
would write a poem, a short story or an essay and then there was a long dry
period. But in the last few years the rain has been transforming into a
spring. That spring keeps on flowing day and night, weekdays and weekends.
I no longer experience a ‘ writer’s block ’. Such
a transformation took place after I became aware that although the creative
process is related to our unconscious, yet we can learn to influence and
guide it. I have read about psychotherapy patients who remembered their
dreams regularly because they kept a daily diary to share them with their
analysts. I thought if people could learn to have more control on their
dreams then why could I not influence my own
creative process, as they both originated from the same springs of
unconscious. Over the years my unconscious mind and I became friends and
started creating together. That is why my creative output has increased
over the years.
During that
journey I have also learnt a few things about myself. My creative journey
has become a part of my self-discovery, self-awareness and self-actualization.
I believe my creativity has helped me liberate myself and discover an
adventurous lifestyle. It has made me become a better friend, a caring
therapist and a happier human being.
CREATIVE MORNINGS
Mornings
are the best for me to write and create. I always have blank pages, pens
and pencils lying next to my bed. I think about the project I am working
on, the night before and when I wake up, I am ready to write. It seems as
if my unconscious mind, my dear friend, is active even when I am sleeping. Like
a research assistant he goes into the deep recesses of my past and collect all the relevant thoughts, ideas, images and
references and then offers the significant homework in the morning as my
creative breakfast. The last article I wrote was about one of my favorite
writers, Anais Nin.
When my friend Rashid Mughal, who also loves Anais Nin, asked me to share
my impressions about Nin, I got inspired to write
an essay about her life and philosophy. I kept on thinking about her
diaries and interviews all evening before I went to bed. In the morning
when I woke up and started writing, it was like a stream of consciousness
and I was surprised to write nearly ten pages spontaneously. Afterwards I
consulted her diaries, lectures and interviews and added a few quotations
to prove my points. The whole process was so enjoyable. I was quite amused
by Nin’s relationship to creativity as it seemed
so similar to mine. I could identify with her, when she wrote,
‘ The white page for me is like
a ski slope. I go absolutely mad. I go mad in stationary stores. Just to
see beautiful paper gives me a desire to write.’
In the morning I feel as if my mind is like a blank
page, ready to receive the mysterious gifts from the right side of my
brain, from my unconscious mind, from my creative self.
If I do not receive any creative gifts, then I have
books on the table that I read. For example after writing Nin’s article, I started reading Gandhi’s autobiography
for my next project.
CREATIVE PROJECTS
I like working on different projects at the same time,
so that when I get tired or
bored with one, I can start the
other one with renewed energy. These days I am
working on the following projects:
a, proofreading my book The
Myth of the Chosen One, which is
about serial killers and mass murderers.
B, doing research for my book From Holy War to Global
Peace, my creative response to Afghan war. Although I have already
written 150 pages but for the last part of the book, I want to read the
biographies of Tolstoy, Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mendella, who I consider the four messengers of Peace
and Justice in the twentieth century. I chose these four as I realized that
Gandhi was impressed by Tolstoy when he was a teenager. He used to write to
Tolstoy and read his books to get inspiration. After Gandhi introduced his
philosophy of non-violence in India,
people from all over the world got inspired by that. One of them was Martin
Luther King. Later on, Martin Luther King inspired Nelson Mendella. When I read the Nobel speech of Nelson Mendella, I was touched to read his compliments to
Luther King. It was also interesting that before Gandhi started his
struggle in India
against the British Empire, he had lived in the land
of Mendella,
in South Africa
and was influenced by the struggles on Asians in South
Africa. Reading
about those personalities will keep my creative juices flowing for a few
months until I finish that project.
C, I am also trying to finalize my book The Art of
Living in the Green Zone ,
a book based on my 25 years experiences as a psychotherapist. In that book
I discuss the new concepts I have developed in my practice.
CREATIVE TRANSLATIONS
To improve my craft and the art of writing, I also got
involved in translating world literature in Urdu. To do that I have to read
the master pieces a few times and get in touch with the soul of writers.
Such translations also inspire me with my own creative work. During
translations if I am inspired to write my original piece then I put the
translations on hold and do my own creative work. I am aware I can always
come back to the translations, but I may not be able to catch the creative
moment later on. My last project on translations was about Native Indian
Literature. When Asif Furrukhi,
a well respected writer and editor from Pakistan
was visiting Canada,
I shared with him the translation of Chief Seattle’s speech. He was so
impressed by the translation and the speech, he
asked me if I would consider doing some more translations, so that he could
bring out a special issue on Native Indian Literature. He told me that
writers in Pakistan
had translated European, Middle Eastern and South American literature in
Urdu but nobody had translated Native Indian Literature. I promised to do
that and completed the project in a few months.
CREATIVE FRIENDS
Over
the years I have developed friendship with a number of creative people all
over the world. I call them the family of my heart. After finishing my
first drafts, I share my creative products with my creative friends via
email. They are very thoughtful and send me their sincere and honest
comments and criticisms that help me in finalizing the draft. I am lucky to
have a number of such friends who are co-travelers of my creative journey.
They feel that writing and commenting on my creations, also inspires them
to complete their own projects.
I am
usually involved in joint projects with my creative friends, as I believe
that one and one make eleven. In creative friendships people bring out the
best in each other. These days I am involved in the following projects.
A, I am exchanging letters with my dear friend Betty
Davis and sharing our philosophy, personal and professional experiences
about Love, Sex and Marriage.
B, I am involved in writing screen-plays for television
with my friend Dennis Isaac.
I am
also lucky to work with Anne Aguirre who is not only a wonderful nurse but
also a sincere friend. We have
intellectually stimulating discussions at lunch on a
regular basis. Dialogues with
her has helped me formulate and articulate my
philosophy.
CREATIVE HOLIDAYS
After
working in my clinic for a few weeks and having a routine life, I take a
week off to visit my creative friends and complete my incomplete projects.
When I leave home to go on a trip, I get a creative boost. My creative
juices start pouring with more enthusiasm. While I am at the airport, or in
the plane or visiting friends in distant lands, or sitting on a beech on an
island, I can review the last few weeks and plan the next few weeks. Such a
review is like a landing space after going up the stairs. After a few
stairs we need a little stop, to recover and to regain more energy. I have
realized that creative journey is like a marathon run. That is why I use
turtles as a metaphor in my practice. They are slow, but they travel a long
distance, live long lives and become successful in the end. The fast
runners like the hare usually fall asleep, lose interest and lose the race.
I was always impressed by those artists who received the Oscar award for
their life-long achievements rather than one time performance.
I have
observed that many serious writers in any field did not just leave one or
two creative products behind, they were known for their body of work.
CREATIVE INTEGRATION
I am
gradually realizing that my personal, social and professional lives are
becoming integrated. I am as enthused to write about my professional
experiences, as I am excited to share my personal encounters. It is also
amazing that after creating collections of poems, stories and essays, these
days I am enthused to write in the form of letters. Writing letters to
friends on serious subjects is my newest form of expression. I think it is
the most spontaneous expression. I feel at home. It gives me an opportunity
to be fully myself. I find it the best combination of form and content that
suits my personality and temperament. Reading
diaries of Anais Nin
and letters of Vincent van Gogh have made me realize that diaries and
letters deserve as much serious attention in literature as poems, short
stories and novels. Writing letters to my friend Betty and my nephew Zeeshan sharing my views about the subjects close to my
heart have broadened my creative horizons.
The
more I write, the more I discover myself, the more I discover myself, the
more I share, the more I share, the more I connect with others in a
meaningful way, the more I connect with others in a meaningful way, the
more I discover the secrets of making creative friends, the more I discover
the secrets of making creative friends, the more I learn the art of growing
together, the more I learn the art of growing together, the more I feel
optimistic that our tomorrows will be more meaningful and productive than
our yesterdays.
I feel so fortunate that my creative rain transformed
into creative spring. I hope it keeps on flowing till the day I die and my
creations help others to get in touch with their own creative selves,
creative springs, creative truths. Affectionately Sohail
March,
2002
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