By: Jamie Catto
Inevitably, when I devise workshops about creativity, about getting people's projects together, and bringing their generosity into the world, the first and most important thing to focus on, is where am I creating 'from'? How am I feeling? What is my true rooted excitement? Because this is the deciding factor on whether anything brilliant or touching is going to get made, whether it be a piece of art, a new company or just who I am in the world.
So on these weekends, before we get into the practicalities of A's and B's and C's of actually doing a project, I'm first most interested in us all coming back to our inspiration, coming back to our unedited, unapologetic versions of ourselves; less addicted to approval, less addicted to appropriateness. Those addictions are massively in the way of any Masterpiece, whether it be a Masterpiece of art, a Masterpiece of parenting, or a Masterpiece of making love.
A lot of the processes and games we get into in the workshops are about coming back to ourselves and inevitably, we begin to touch on issues of intimacy, issues of personal freedom, issues of who I am, even issues of looking at the wounds that have shaped me into the strange, unique creature that I am with my unique needs and edges. Am I listening to myself enough to hear those needs? All that stuff becomes fascinating and fundamental to the whole journey of 'doing a project' and 'being an artist' and vulnerably releasing your gifts into the world.
I am not a believer that anyone should ever challenge themselves in life unless that challenge feels exciting to them. If there is a challenge which feels exciting, of course, go for it, but I am not a believer that anyone should ever feel the need to push themselves or evolve one inch beyond where they are now. In fact one of the things I always say on the workshops is, "If God came into this room and said to you, "You are not going to evolve one more millimetre in this whole lifetime. You are not going to get one millimetre freer, one millimetre wiser or one millimetre further along", could you still love yourself fully?"
For me, that is the most important question anyone can ever ask themselves and if the answer is "no", you need to really look at your path, and your ideas about what you are doing here on earth.
I believe that 'enlightenment' (if it exists) is loving yourself exactly as the wounded, freaky creature you are today. The highest spiritual path that I can attain is to love myself exactly as I am, with no finish lines. I have no ambition, no ambition at all any more and it feels incredibly freeing. Life is going to sculpt me plenty, often in uncomfortable ways.
So when people come on my workshops, I'm not a seducer, or an asker or a pusher. I don't need people to go deep or go shallow. I feel people are going to be grown-ups and choose their own way in.
My responsibility in this is to express that I am trusting you to totally parent yourselves as adults - that you are going to look after your needs - that when you are feeling shaky or need space, that you are going to ask for it and you are going to be the one who reaches out for the support that you need.
So while it is wonderful to have close people in our lives that love us and care for us sometimes, it's no-one else's job or responsibility to do that. To ask for what we want is a great vulnerability, but the great thing about it, is that it creates a visceral intimacy. In my workshops this attitude of self-responsibility is paramount.
So I wanted to express all that about what is like to be a workshop facilitator and sometimes having expectations from people about being a guru or being a self-awareness teacher or parent figure. Yes, all that stuff can come into the groups, but my greatest excitement is, whether we meet the weekend intellectually or we meet it as a great life-change, I want everybody to come through it, both being their own parent, taking full responsibility for their experience and expecting me to be an artist who is going to show up fully in who I am in every way too.
Within these practices people find their creativity so deeply and by being themselves this fully, everybody finds the highest gift that is available to them, when we work together.
These themes will be addressed in more detail through the Pioneers for Change Fellowship kicking off on March 23 and 24, 2015 in London. Pioneers for Change is an initiative of Adessy Associates.
About Jamie Catto
Jamie Catto, Creator, Producer/Director of the multi-award winning global 1 Giant Leap films and albums, and founder member of Faithless, is now leading uniquely transformative workshops and one-on-one sessions. Drawing from the richly diverse wisdom, techniques and processes he has encountered during his ground-breaking filming, recording and philosophy voyages across all five continents, he is weaving these creative techniques and exercises to spark both professional and personal breakthroughs.