Jacob Nordby - The Creative Cure: How Finding and Freeing Your Inner Artist Can Heal Your Life

THE CREATIVE CURE

THE CREATIVE CURE

HOW FINDING AND FREEING YOUR INNER ARTIST CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE

Jacob Nordby

Copyright 2021 by Jacob Nordby

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work

in any form whatsoever, without permission in writing from the

publisher, except for brief passages in connection with a review.

Cover design by Emma Smith

Cover art by Luis Portugal | iStock

Print book interior design by Frame25 Productions

Hierophant Publishing

8301 Broadway, Suite 219

San Antonio, TX 78209

www.hierophantpublishing.com

If you are unable to order this book from your local bookseller,

you may order directly from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020949053

ISBN: 978-1-950253-04-3

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For Brie, who helped me write this book

in many more ways than you know.

Applying creativity to healing changed everything.

I believe that creativity in motion heals everything.

SARK

I want you to be able to picture the author who is, for me, a cherished friend. I met Jacob Nordby teaching together in Santa Fe, and he gave me a copy of a book he'd written. I looked at the cover, which was both bold and brash, and said to myself, It's not for me. Nonetheless, I took the book home and put it on a side table, where, for several months, it confronted me. One lonely nightI live alone with a small dogI picked up the book and began reading. To my surprise and delight, the book was wonderful. On impulse, I grabbed the phone, dialing Nordby's number. When he answered, I introduced myselfThis is Julia Cameron, and I think you are an absolutely wonderful writer. Taken aback, Nordby managed to say, Really? I mean, thank you! And thus, a friendship was struck.

Barrel-chested, bearded, and twinkly eyed, Nordby didn't conform to any image of the suffering artist. His prose was magical, spirited, sensual, and spiritual. For me, an intoxicating mixture. Grounded as I am in a four-decades-plus spiritual path, I found Nordby's writing to be both accurate and invigorating. He was indeed, as one of his titles suggested, a divine arsonistlighting the fire of spiritual hunger in his reader.

When I was asked to write the foreword for this current book, I happily agreed. I had come to know Nordby over several years' friendship to be a lively and engaging teacher. The authenticity of his message was beyond the shadow of a doubt. A spiritual practitioner himself, he led others forward into their own deepening spirituality. Like me, he saw spirituality and creativity to be inextricably linked.

A veteran teacher, blending his love of words with his love of God, he forged something called, the creative cure. Using tools he had tried, tested, and applied, he sought to open what he called, our inner creative nature. As he wrote, for me, spirituality and creativity describe the same thing: the way we celebrate the timeless, essential energy of life. Sensitive to the reservations of his readers, he added, furthermore, since creativity as a spiritual practice doesn't dictate any particular beliefs or traditions, it can work in harmony with any other religious or spiritual customs you may also enjoy.

In other words, be open-minded. No matter what your convictions, Nordby's tools can resonate for you. I want to say, read this book slowly. Or perhaps, read it twice. The tasks and playful exercises are challenging. Nordby believes in the play of ideas, and play is an essential part of his message. While writing of serious matterssocialization, trauma, and rejectionhe writes with an engaged intelligence and a veterans' confidence that creative wounds can be healed and even cured. The creative cure is one that Nordby has both witnessed and instigated in his teaching. Throughout the book he shares personal stories that anchor his intellectual ideas firmly in daily life.

I think this book serves as an entryway into deep creative waterswaters that the reader may find both bracing and invigorating. I share with Nordby a love of tools that work, and I found myself drawn to the simplicity and subtlety of the methods he suggests for unlocking a powerful and joyous self that we may have buried or forgotten. I know from our friendship that Nordby practices what he preachesa lively mix of journaling, meditation, and guidance. It is my wish that the reader encounter in these pages both the man and the muse, catalyzing a creative cure that infiltrates all arenas of life.

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way

If a child comes to you with a wound, say a badly skinned knee, you immediately jump into action. In order to soothe the hurt, you of course want to take steps to make things better and start the healing process. First, you assess the situation with loving attention. Then, you gently clean away any dirt or gravel. Next, you'll cover the wound, making a sheltered space for healing. Underneath the bandage, the body's genius goes to work immediately: fighting infection, growing new cells, reconnecting tissue. Kissing the bandage or brushing loving fingertips over the wound is the final step. We all know that love and connection increase the speed and depth of healing wounds, both big and small.

Of course, there are plenty of nonphysical wounds we all carrypersistent pain from long ago trauma, tender responses to present difficulties, or fear for an unknown future. In our modern world, these wounds take the form of pervasive anxiety, loneliness, stress, depression, and apathy.

What if we applied a creative process similar to the simple healing process above to address these psychic wounds? First, we might use awareness to see things as they really are, rather than as we think they should be. Then, we might cleanse away the dirt and gravel of social conditioning and self-judgment that muddy our healing. Next we can create a safe space, steeped in love and connection, so that natural mending can begin. Just as the body begins fighting infection, we can commit ourselves to rooting out negativity and criticism. Like the body grows new cells and reconnects tissue, so we might practice curiosity and bring our imagination into the process so that we can make new connections and open up new avenues for growth.

In short, creativity drives healing.

I know this because I've seen it happen again and again. For several years, in addition to my daily work as a writer and creative guide, I have taught an online class called Creative UnBootcamp. I envisioned this class as a place for people interested in writing to quickly tap into the creative process and shore up their writing skills.

Registering from all around the world, people showed up for the first session hungry to nourish a need much greater than learning how to write. This confused me at first. I was ready to teach the mechanics of putting words on the page, but the learners were bringing a whole lot more to the table: unexpressed emotions and desires, unresolved pain and yearning.

What did they want from this class? How could I be of service?

The answer came almost by accident. Because the class was private, members could share their experiences with each other in a safe space in online chats. We were gathered in this intimate space even though we were spread out geographically. We had a place to explore and connect that was separate from our daily lives, families, jobs, and communities. On the surface, our task was to learn writing as a tool of self-expression, and stories came flooding out from the group immediately. In the privacy of our circle, members shared their traumas, their hidden longings, and their hopes and dreams. They revealed things they'd never told anyone before or had long since forgotten themselves. We laughed and cried together, writing long, ragged posts filled with profanity. The depth of honesty and trust they offered each other and me was humbling.