Tension: The Foundation of Creation

This month, we are exploring the importance of tension in our ability to create.

So, what is tension?  We think of two different types of tension when we are thinking about creating.

• Creative tension is the energy that’s created by the gap between the vision of what you want to create and your reality today.
• Psychological tension comes up because of the meaning we place on that gap - this is based on our CAGE.

These tensions can manifest as that uncomfortable feeling in your stomach, chest or other areas.  Unfortunately, we are programmed to believe that this uncomfortable feeling is BAD and that we should do anything we can to resolve it and make it go away.  If we believe that always feeling good is the right way to live, we spend our whole lives actively avoiding tension.  By doing so, we are sabotaging our ability to create.

“Creators don’t seek emotional stability, victims do.”

• William Whitecloud

Resolving Tension

There are many interesting and varied ways we, as humans, resolve our tension.  The mode and method are determined by the stories we’ve made up about who we are and who we need to be to remain safe in the world.  Some take a proactive approach by arguing and fighting.  Others take a passive approach by avoiding or drinking.  Some may even meditate their tension away. 

None of these things are inherently wrong, but if they are used to resolve tension, they will pull us out of the creative orientation. 

Without Tension there is No Creation

Imagine a bow and arrow.  Without the tension created by the arrow being pulled back it would go nowhere.  This is the energy that gets created when we creative tension and leads to insights and opportunities that serve us in creating our vision.

I could say, “I’d love to live in Australia”.  If I allow myself to think, “someday that would be cool”, I have resolved my tension.  There is no impetus for me to gain insights that will propel me toward this goal.

“I choose the end result of living in Australia before I am 50”.  Truly owning a choice will amp up the level of tension you have around it and will allow for the magic to unfold.

By ramping up the tension with ownership and specificity of a choice, you are telling your subconscious, “this is what I want”, and out of the 400Bn bit of information out there it will bring to your attention that ones that will support you in creating your vision. 

Sitting with the Tension

As soon as I have this creative tension though, it generates psychological tension and my logical brain tries to figure out HOW I am going to accomplish (make it happen).  DO NOT DO THIS!! 

The challenge with this is that this is our logical brain is trying to figure it out based on the limited perspective from our CAGE. It looks to our beliefs, assumptions and definitions to determine the how and takes us out of our natural ability and creativity.

This is why I spent many, many years trying a variety of things to create passive income so I could go off and do what I loved.   It’s what my CAGE told me I ‘should’ do but it didn’t serve me in creating what I would love, it merely resolved the tension felt by not knowing how it was going to happen.  And none of my money-making schemes worked, in fact I lost tens of thousands of pounds, because they weren’t in line with my Spirit! 

Mastery in creating is the ability to sit with tension, without figuring it out.  When we allow ourselves to truly feel tension (even though it may be uncomfortable), our ability to create flourishes.  The insights will drop in, opportunities will present themselves.  The next step becomes obvious, and things seem to magically fall into place.  

Always remember, tension is your friend, the larger the amount of tension you can hold, the larger you can create.

Creating Tension

The first step in creating tension is knowing what you want to create.  “I don’t know what I would love in my life” is a common way I see people take themselves out of creating.  Yes, deep down, you do know but it can be hidden!  It is because your CAGE will not allow you to see it, in an effort to keep you safe. 

Another popular way to reduce the tension is to reduce the size of the vision. “I don’t think it is possible”, so a modified version of what you would love comes to the surface.  So, really allow yourself to go there and own what you would love even if you have no idea how it could possibly happen!  (Watch Tracy’s story from August 2020 for an awesome example of this!)

Once we identify what we want, we need to choose it.  Not the “that would be really cool someday” type of choosing.  Really telling yourself, I want that!  I will have that!  When we truly choose to create something, we are creating tension.

Whenever you set and choose a clear INTENTION it puts you IN-TENSION! 

Now, I invite you to create a list of intentions from the Lush Life Vision we did last month.  If you haven’t already done so set aside 30 mins to do the Lush Life Meditation.  You can find the meditation in last month’s module or here. 

• Step One – Create a Vision

Embrace and write down everything you would love to create. 

• Step Two – Pull out themes

Step back into the energy of your Lush Life and pull out the key themes (topics) that emerged (e.g. home, relationship, family, self-mastery, passions/hobbies). There is no right way, but I usually see 7-10 themes emerge from a Lush Life meditation.

• Step Three – Create Intentions

Take each theme, one by one, and write out a simple intention of what you want to create.  We also call them choices because you are choosing to create them

• g. my airy and peaceful home in the country
• g. my deeply connected loving marriage.

Be sure to connect with the energy you felt during the meditation.  Write the intention in such a way that it evokes that same emotion when you read it.  Don’t try and think it, feel it and write it quickly before your rational brain can come in.

Allowing the Tension to Create

These specific intentions send a clear message to your subconscious about what you want to create.  Your subconscious mind says yes to whichever message has the most energy behind it and will find a way to support you in creating it. 

Read your intentions each day.  Imagine and feel the energy of each intention as if you have already created it.  Be sure to own the intention (not a “one day that would be lovely” scenario).  Sit with the tension and allow the ‘how will I make this happen’ to become obvious over time.   Allow the magic to unfold.

Become aware of how you want to resolve tension.  Then you can catch yourself when you are headed down the resolving path and SHIFT your focus back onto what you’re creating.   Mastery is not about never resolving tension, it’s about how quickly you recognise it and get back to holding it instead!  

Downloads

• GMT20210421-170334_Recording.pdf