One Layer Deeper- Creative Prompt

When it comes to developing creative work, I find it useful to borrow from geology, and think of a cross section of ancient sedimentary rock. 

What gets viewed as ‘creativity’ is often only what has surfaced on the upper, visible realm. It might be a painting, a book, a creative project- something with tangible, tactile form and dimension.  Yet below the surfaced entity is an entire eco-systems of life, deeply layered and ancient, rich with context and cultural significance. When we can learn to engage with these layers, through creative conversation and our creative process, our work grows in depth and breadth, moving from something disposable and temporary, to something with at least increased likelihood to last. 

Looking at the cross-section, we can see that some deposits on that rock are laid in the current season - what’s in bloom, what flora and fauna are visiting, what’s present to the eye. These are the current events we write about, the daily fluctuations, the temporary, if sometimes beautiful, sometimes dark, scenery and objects we lay our senses upon. It is the daily life of our experience, moment by moment; significant, but fleeting. Paying attention there is vital to our aliveness, and the quality of our presence in the world. The noticing wakes us up to the infinity of possibility and the expressions of life seeking life, in perpetual motion. 

However, we need not stop there. When it comes to creating something of lasting worth, with roots and longevity, while maintaining this alertness and aliveness at the outer sensory layer, we must also we be willing to travel  to the the invisible and at times inaccessible stratifications of our being, which is to say, we must be willing to go, ‘one layer deeper’. It is a mantra I take to my own work, and one which inevitably takes me to routes unprescribed at the outset of the journey, and usually, to some form of fear, and some form of insight. 

The decent to these deeper layers must come with a warning however. It is never linear, often fraught and is not dictated by logic nor traditional temporal patterns. It has its own pace and timing, more fractal than static, more organic than geometric. This is flow time, where the ordinary clock does not seem to have a place, and we enter into what the Greeks call, kairos, where time is measured in quality, where synchronicities congeal, and where we need to give ourselves space to uncover the gems which may await. 

Moving down the sedimentary rock, we start to uncover the layers which we deposited by living through our own timeline of life. Here we are in the psychological domain, and it is where we find our norms, behaviours, values and belief systems, which, in turn, are informed by the deeper currents of the cultural and social constructs to which our individual self has been exposed. Below again, we reach for the archetypical frames, mythologies and stories which span deep time. These are legacy stories at the bedrock of the rock itself; stories of the land, sea, place, mantle- the elemental, but without which, no other story has form to stand. 

With such depth and dimension to explore, you can understand why the insistence on ‘one layer deeper’ is never a quick fix and demands rigour of our attention, craft and drive. I may be able to create, share, or write a surface tale, for instance, but what will give the work the lasting depth and significance? Usually more time, and always a willingness to let go of what is comfortable and visible. In other words, to dive into the creative process not knowing what might surface or, even more radically, how the process might change us as a result. 

This kind of work, of course, is antithetical to the algorithmic demands of building platforms and social media assets for the quick dopamine hit of recognition. It is work that is in opposition to always on, always in production.  Which, in part, is why it is so hard to make. It requires that we may need to disappear for a while and give ourselves permission to move at creativity’s own rhythm and pace- which, at times works at the speed of light, and at times, the beautiful, dense and infinite dark. The treasure, after all, as Joseph Campbell extorts, is in the cave we fear, and sometimes the dive, is exactly what we seek. 

Whatever your creative practice, whether writing, art, or even setting up your own creative business, consider the questions, ‘How can I take the work one layer deeper? And how might I release what is holding me back?’

If writing memoir, for example, moving one layer deeper may mean looking towards the archetypal patterns which have etched themselves into how you have lived your own narrative lines. If working in the visual arts, it may mean further examination of the cultural symbolism or social ideologies which are informing your work (and equally, what you are subverting), and if working on a social/ creative project, it might mean asking yourself how you can fulfil a deeper need for your beneficiaries by meeting an emotional or even spiritual need. As an educator, you can think about how ‘one layer deeper’ might inform your programming. That may lead to more reflection time for learning integration and establishing new norms and patterns. 

So next time you are creating something, I invite you to carry with you that little mantra of ‘One Layer Deeper’. You may be surprised at where it will bring you. And when you surface, you’ll bring more awareness and presence back to the outer realm, knowing you are held by multitudes, spanning back to the beginning of rock itself. 

Creative Prompt:

Consider a creative project you are working on. Thinking of the image of the sedimentary rock, ask yourself, ‘How might I take this one layer deeper’, and ‘How might I release what is holding me back’. Set a timer for 10 minutes and write in free flow to see what insights might arrive.