The Source of Creation

Why Everything You Create Should Flow from Giving, Not Getting

There’s a question every creator must eventually face: What do I want to create? What do I want to share?

But before you can truly answer that question, you need to understand something fundamental about the nature of creation itself. You should only create from a place of giving, not from a place of getting.

It sounds simple, but this distinction is everything. And it can be incredibly subtle when you’re creating from the wrong motivation—when you’re doing it for what you’re going to get from it. Fame, recognition, money, validation. These motivations masquerade as legitimate reasons to create, but they lead you down a path of endless striving and perpetual dissatisfaction.

The Right Energy of Creation

When you’re truly creating from The Source—God, the Creator, the Source of all creation—the energy is completely different. It’s outward-flowing—giving, loving, sharing, helping.

Imagine you’re a photographer and you witness a breathtaking sunset. The authentic creative impulse sounds like this: “Oh wow, this is incredible! I need to capture this so I can share it with everyone. People need to see this!”

That’s the energy. Pure enthusiasm for sharing something beautiful or meaningful with others.

Contrast that with: “This would make a great shot for my portfolio. I could sell prints of this. This could boost my Instagram following.”

Feel the difference? One flows outward. The other contracts inward.

The Problem with Our Fear-Based Society

Here’s where it gets tricky. We live in a society built on separation—a civilization that teaches us the source of our wellbeing lies in external forms. We’re conditioned to believe we must monetize everything, that our creative work must “make sense” financially, that we need to calculate what will sell before we create it.

This isn’t to say you can’t sell your work or that money is inherently evil. But the orientation—the focus—behind what you’re doing matters immensely. Are you creating from neediness? From a scarcity mindset? From fear?

Here’s something fascinating: nobody likes neediness. Have you ever wondered why? I believe it’s because, on a deep spiritual level, we all recognize that neediness is a misconfiguration of energy—a misorientation away from The Source.

Finding Your True Source

The only way out of this dilemma is to realize that your source, your wellspring, your connection in all ways and all forms is The Source. (You might call this the Universe, Spirit, or another name that resonates with you, but I’m talking about that infinite creative force from which everything flows.)

And you might need to really know this, not just intellectually understand it. You might need to strip away everything—like the Buddha sitting under the bodhi tree—to finally hit that gold vein of truth. Some people need to become temporarily homeless, take a walkabout, wander in the desert. Not because poverty is noble, but because sometimes we’re so attached to external forms that we can’t see the truth until they’re gone.

The paradox is that you don’t have to go that route. You could be a billionaire and hit that same gold vein of realization. Though if you’re a billionaire who truly connects to The Source, you’ll probably feel compelled to help people with your resources.

Consider the difference between Mother Teresa and someone purely driven by accumulation. The more disconnected from The Source, the more we worship the false gods of money, status, and power. The more connected to The Source, the more naturally we give and serve.

The Reflection Principle

Here’s the beautiful mystery: as you give out, it comes back to you. The more people you help through your business, your art, your service—whatever form your giving takes—the more flows back to you.

But even as it returns, your attitude should remain: “How can I give more?”

You don’t see the returning abundance as the source itself—you see it as a reflection of God. Whether it’s a cup of water when you’re homeless or another billion when you’re wealthy, the response is: “Look what God has given me today.”

That’s the right orientation.

Breaking the Reactive Cycle

So much of our creative energy gets wasted on reaction and fear. “Oh no, I don’t have money for my credit card bill! I need to create something that will sell right now!”

This desperate energy produces desperate results.

Instead: sit back, relax, pray, meditate. Whatever you do, don’t go into fear. Don’t separate. Don’t go into desperation. Don’t just start reacting from those panicked energies.

Take a breath. Connect to God. Then an answer will come. It’s going to be different each time. You can’t predict it with a formula like “If I do ABC, I’ll get DEF.” Each moment is unique. You have to learn to dance with uncertainty—or rather, what we call uncertainty but is really just the certainty of God operating in ways beyond our ego’s need for control.

Creating What Lights You Up

When you’re oriented correctly—when you’re connected to God and creating from giving—you stop doing things that aren’t fun anymore. Why? Because there’s no other motivation.

Our society conditions us to endure drudgery now for glory later. That carrot just keeps getting pulled further away. The promise of “someday” never arrives.

What if you could feel the glory now?

Connect to God—in your own way—and find that inner peace which is the glory. Once you’re feeling that, you naturally express it into the world. You might need to temporarily step back from the noise to find it. You might need to let everything else drop away so you can reach that wellspring. Because if you leave the well and go into the world looking for water, you’ll remain spiritually thirsty forever.

This is what Jesus meant when he said it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. He wasn’t condemning wealth—he was pointing to attachment. The kingdom of heaven is the glory that is your birthright, which even the poorest person can access simply by sitting still and connecting to it.

Create from Your Authentic Self

Stop trying to figure out what will sell. Stop researching “hot YouTube channel ideas” or “what people want.”

Listen: the core motivation should come from yourself. What do you find cool? What lights you up? Then share that.

If you’re a chef, you don’t invent a dish by calculating what focus groups want—you create something you think is delicious, then share it with joy. The world wants your unique perspective, not another algorithm-optimized, market-researched, committee-designed product.

This is why Hollywood blockbusters designed by money-focused executives often flop, while some inspired independent director creates something authentic that resonates with millions. Real creation flows from connection, not calculation.

Even Your Dream Work Can Be Co-Opted

Here’s where I need to be honest about my own journey with Dream Power. I caught myself thinking: “I need to get my social media going so I can build an audience. I need to make money from YouTube so I can do my purpose work.”

Notice the words: “get,” “need.”

That’s the wrong orientation. Even your purpose work—your dream work—can be co-opted by this fear-based, getting mindset, especially if you’re coming from a corporate background or an achievement-oriented life where you’ve been conditioned to need recognition, validation, money.

You have to do whatever spiritual work necessary to get to that place where you don’t need anything from your creation. Then create from there.

The Practice

I’m not saying you have to be perfect before you begin creating. I’m not saying wait until you’ve achieved total enlightenment. Just do your best. But understand this principle, because it makes a huge difference.

From now on, I’m committed to living this truth as much as I can:

Create everything from a place of not needing. Don’t do it from neediness—for money, emotional support, moral validation, or anything else.

The direction matters more than the destination. Even if you’re still struggling, if you’re walking in the right direction—toward Source, toward giving, toward authentic expression—things will get better. You might even end up like Buddha under that tree, having let everything else fall away.

But at least you’ll be walking in the right direction.

What would you create if you knew you didn’t need anything from it? What would you share if giving was your only motivation? That’s your real work. That’s the invitation.