Why peeling the layers of the onion is so important…

David Hawkins, MD, Ph.D, “Power vs Force”, pg 220:

“Genius and creativity, then, are subjectively experienced as a witnessing. It is a phenomenon that bypasses the individual self, or ego. The capacity to finesse genius can be learned, though often only through painful surrender, when the phoenix of genius arises out of the ashes of despair after a fruitless struggle within the unsolvable. Out of defeat comes victory; out of failure, success; and out of humbling, true self-esteem.”

This paragraph comes from Hawkins’ chapter on genius and creativity. Hawkins defintion of genius is not quite the same as the textbook definition. The textbook definition defines genius in terms of high IQ, which in turn is defined in mostly mathematical and scientific abilities. Hawkins takes a much more broad definition of genius in applying it to art, music and creativity as well. It is this broader definition of the term that I am interested in.

Only after you surrender to the process of removing the residue of life from your soul can you begin to access your true creative self. For 2 decades I painted Byzantine Icons, and was rather successful with this-when I did it. I say when I did it because I still struggled with a huge creative block and would go through periods of desert like non-productivity. I would want to paint, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. It might only take me 8 hours to paint a simple 9x12 single saint icon, but getting me to sit down at my painting table might take me days, or even months. There was an enormous creative block that was in the way.

It took the event of my wife leaving me in July 2014 to cause me to stand back and take notice of what was going on. It was a very painful time and the beginning of the peeling of layers. Sure, I had already tackled my nasty temper, but that was only the scar tissue that was covering the rest of the layers. I vaguely remembered the creative little boy that many others told me I was, and I desperately wanted to find him again. Only after Lori left me and a very gentle and patient person briefly came into my life did I finally begin the process. To get there took surrender and a lot of hard work, which is still going on to this day. It is very hard work, but as Hawkins points out, it is very much worth the effort.