A summary of the previous article About the relationship between consciousness, Authenticity, and Creativity:

The text explores the relationship between consciousness, authenticity, and creativity, inspired by Max Planck’s notion that consciousness is fundamental. It discusses how authenticity enhances creativity and personal well-being and aims to unify these concepts into a cohesive theory. Additionally, it contrasts materialism and simulation theory, highlighting their implications for understanding consciousness and reality. Simulation theory offers an alternative perspective, suggesting a virtual construct that explains phenomena beyond conventional understanding.

Creativity is like tuning into a well of silence, filled with information.

Jeroen Carelse, somewhere around 2019

The above thought summarises a question I always ask myself when I hear someone talking about an experience or observation. I see two worlds: one of physical properties like sounds, energies, vibrations, materials and ‘stuff’. And I see an encompassing world of information which is neither existing nor non-existing.

Information does not exist in the material realm as ‘stuff’ although stuff could carry information. Like a digital electric signal could carry information. Information does exist as a non-physical property though, like thoughts, interpretations, understandings. With this dialectic in mind, I like to explain how I see creativity.

At its core, creativity means the activity of creating, distinct from replicating, which is more like cloning or duplicating. Creating comes from an authentic position, where Carl Jung’s concept of the shadow and persona plays a role. The shadow encompasses our unconscious traits, desires, and impulses—elements we may reject or deny due to their perceived incompatibility with our self-image. Meanwhile, the persona represents the social mask we wear to interact with the world, reflecting the aspects of ourselves that we present to others.

Being authentic involves navigating the interplay between fears and love in expression. Fears, such as fear of ridicule or exclusion, often hold us back from expressing ourselves authentically. These fears stem from a desire for acceptance and connection with others. Conversely, love motivates us to express ourselves freely and authentically, despite the potential for criticism or rejection.

For instance, I once had to confront my fear of ridicule when I began painting again after years of hesitation. I created a series of paintings featuring female breasts,

initially fearing judgment from my teenage son and daughter. Surprisingly, they were enthusiastic and supportive. Similarly, I faced another fear when I shared a painting depicting a “paranormal” experience I had while painting.

Despite expecting ridicule, I received interest instead. These experiences taught me the importance of confronting fears to express oneself authentically.

I realised I benefit when I forget about the social rules for a while and freely explore fantasies, taboos, fringe ideas. This does not mean I have to act on everything, self restrain and a moral compass – albeit challenging to define at times – remain essential too. In the creative process it is about both and, and, and, not, not. Almost like a Boolean function. You need and the mind, and access to Consciousness, the world of information.

I need the body and mind in this perceived physical realm to paint so other people can see my painting. I need my desire to paint controversial topics, and overcome my fears, so I actually know what to paint. This dance between the more physical and non-physical is a dance essential in the creative process. The more I can let go of my fears, the more doors open to new realities. And I mean this both in a literal and metaphorical sense.

From the larger realm I can pick up ideas which come through, for example, notions, ideas, feelings. These come in my dreams, when standing in the shower, when I listen to for me beautiful music and many other modalities where active thinking (the mind) is put in a much less active modes. Furthermore, and above all, during the act of painting itself this channel, ideas coming through, could be wide open.

Creativity remains a dance between what the mind has to say, and the subtle information flow that tries to reach me as well via the mind. The mind I consider a conduit for various information streams. Some information comes from the (virtual) body directly, like when you hit your toe. Other information comes from experiences, and here my special interest is about the fears or shadows (Carl Jung). But my emphasis is on including the third main stream, that of information reaching us from outside this physical, virtual realm.

When I place my brush in an unintended way on the canvas, I see that. When you have a thought like ‘see, I am not good enough’ it is clear too. But what are these subtle information bits and bobs that are supposed to be part of this essential mix, then? I experience two distinct flows of information that steer my creative process. One type are the mishaps, the repeated mistakes, failures, and dissatisfaction with what I do. The other type is the happy accidents, the feelings of bliss, the loss of time.

I had to learn to listen to both, as both signals try to tell me something. The mistakes, failures, and dissatisfaction tell me I am off course. The happy accidents, the feelings of bliss, the loss of time suggest strongly that I am on the right path, keep going. The first type more often than not coincides with me ‘sitting in my head’, rationalizing what I should paint and for what reason. In this kind of process, I start with ratio and logic and try to plan my way into the future. I have noticed that this planning is like navigating through an unknown city following roadsigns that tell me which way to turn, and above all, which street not to turn into.

Upon reflection, this process is exemplary for navigating fear. When I step back, I can see what all these signs were about. More often than not, they were warnings like ‘don’t paint tits as people will think you are a dirty geezer’. Or’ paint pretty pictures, everybody like pretty pictures’. However, following these suggestions turns me away from whom I actually am. Not that I exclusively want to paint these ‘dirty pictures’ but I want and need the freedom to do it.

And here lies the crux of the matter of creativity for me. The freedom to observe, feel, think and tell my story the way I truly want, in the ways I want. When I have started to act upon the subtle signals that I think I receive from the larger realm (Tom’s LCS) I do feel a physiological response in my body, and my mind, my thinking also changes. I do feel some elated sensations or even forms of euphoria. The signals that eventually form cohesive stories and images do generate a good feeling in me. After many years of observing, testing and trying, I now am confident that this correlation is solid and meaningful.

After I accepted that connection, it didn’t take me long to recognize the inverse relationship: feeling great results in great ideas. When I place myself in a situation of feeling great (love), magic happens. When magic happens, information comes to me, or, when information comes to me, magic happens. So, when I listen to music, any kind of music that I enjoy, I drift off. Pieces of information in the form of images, feelings, smells, taste, or sounds come to me.

A good example is about the Kama Sutra series. I started this series of paintings as an ‘in my head’ process. A few sources of inspiration I was trying to force-fit into some very clever series of works. At first, I had in mind to make little 1:12 sized sculptures of human figures in various Kama Sutra positions. At the same time, I wanted – the rational mind talking here – to do something with Consciousness. This took perhaps a week and I felt frustrated about the results. Then I stepped back and realised the inefficiency of my process. I opened some books, read some online texts and gradually shifted from pure intellect to choosing music I wanted to listen to. So I went from thinking to experiencing or feeling.

The evolution of this series I shall show elsewhere, but the decision to not-think and instead enjoy the music made the big change. Once more, I got into this state of not caring what other people thought. This all through enjoying the music and not restricting myself by deciding what I can, and cannot do. The 1:12 figurines would have been too explicit, and I felt them to become obvious, superfluous, and redundant, There are enough artistic expressions of tits, dicks, and pussy in this world.

So it was not the fear of showing explicit materials that hindered me, but rather an initial immature lust that steered me into the wrong direction. When I took a step back from my thinking via the beautiful music (Max Richter’s Sarajevo I started with) I knew I should make the physical act between the two people secondary to the overall story. And throughout the painting process, I created and utilized micro moments of bliss. Layer after layer, the five paintings found their meaning through choices about colours, shapes, contrast and so forth.

Next: Authenticity

Authenticity guides us toward genuine expression by confronting fears and embracing love. It entails challenging social norms and fostering innovative ideas. Jeroen Carelse’s First Law of Creativity emphasizes aligning private and public lives for authenticity. Authenticity fosters personal growth and reduces resilience to criticism.