The Creative Call: Listening

I have been working through the second chapter of The Creative Call. At the heart of this chapter is the theme of learning to listen to the Spirit and the assurance that the Spirit listens to us. One way, according to the author, that we may listen to God is through the reading of the scriptures and, conversely, the primary way God listens to us is through prayer. The main thing I learned from this chapter is that it is not only right, but essential to ask God how He wants us to exercise our creative gifts and to ask for the means by which to do that. I need to learn to listen for the answers.

The main thrust of this chapter is the emphasis on daily journalling. This is how we as creatives can actually dialogue with the God. The issues that cause our creative blocks can be dealt with in the pages of our journals, and insights and ideas for our creative work can come through the pages of our journals as well. Our prayers can be written if we so choose and the responses may come through our own writing. It is imperative, the author asserts, to journal at least twenty minutes every day, first thing in the morning if possible.

I don't want to go too much into prayer and journalling here. The author covers all of this very well in the chapter. I want to share today my own observations about communicating with the Spirit in a way that diverges a bit from what the author presents. I think another way that the Spirit communicates with us is through dreams. Every time I start one of these creativity programs, I start having bizarre dreams. This time is no different.

I recall two powerful dreams this week. I'm not going to share too many details about my dreams. I am sure the symbolic language in the dreams would have meaning only to me anyway. Let me just say that the messages that came to me in both of these dreams is this: I spend more time taking care of others than taking care of my own well-being, and that I feel excluded from the mainstream creative community. However, that being said, I am still being taught many things by the Spirit that I would not be able to learn from anyone or anywhere else.

There is one thing I do want to share in hopes that someone can give me some insight. In one of the dreams there was a white dog that looked like a husky or a malamut or some sort of Alaskan/Siberian breed. An elderly Asian man in the dream said that the dog's name was "Tzi-Chi" and that it was important that I learn how to pronounce the dog's name. Does anyone have any idea what the words "tzi-chi" may mean? It sounds Mandarin to me. I googled the term but nothing came up. A similar word, "Zi", comes up with the meaning "beautiful" and I know "chi" means "life force." Does this mean that I have a "beautiful life force?" Or that I don't have it and I have to strive towards that? Any insight would be helpful.

So I am trying to listen in all the ways the book's author suggest plus one of my own. I think, though, I need some help in interpreting what I hear.

---------------
This chapter's key scripture verse is: "In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly." Psalm 5:3. And here is my visual response:

"Psalm Five:Three"
Photo Manipulation

ljgloyd (c) 2012