{"id":44644,"date":"2021-08-01T06:49:58","date_gmt":"2021-08-01T10:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=44644"},"modified":"2026-01-22T17:33:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:33:06","slug":"connecting-with-your-higher-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/","title":{"rendered":"The Artist&#8217;s Guide to Connecting With Your Higher Self"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Why is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-connect-with-your-higher-self\/\">connecting with your higher self<\/a> the key to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/do-not-carelessly-denigrate-social-institutions\/\">creative achievement<\/a>? How can you go about connecting with your higher self?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Connecting with your higher self means opening yourself up to higher planes of consciousness, which you often can&#8217;t access due to external distractions. In this state of mind, you&#8217;ll experience <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hub\/society-culture\/arts\/creative-inspiration\/\">creative inspiration<\/a> and will improve your creative output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn about connecting with your higher self below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-connecting-with-your-higher-self\">Connecting With Your Higher Self<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For artistic achievement, opening yourself up to the force of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-muse\/\">the muse<\/a> is helpful, but just as important is connecting with your higher self. This belief is imperative if you want to keep moving forward in your work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>There are different planes of consciousness at play inside you.<\/strong> Too often, you\u2019re distracted by the external world or the myriad of thoughts racing through your brain to notice. You can\u2019t see past the flesh to the soul.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Author Steven Pressfield gives an example of connecting with your higher self at work. When he finishes writing for the day, he takes a hike. Hiking clears his mind and allows other planes of consciousness to come through. He receives notes about the work, information stored in these different arenas that he could not access on his own. For instance, a voice tells him he\u2019s written the same sentence hundreds of pages apart in his novel. Through no effort of his own, this guidance appears to help show him the way forward.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This process happens to you all the time. It is mystical and profound when it occurs, but you must be willing to shut down your surface mind enough to receive it. This part of your consciousness knows more than you do. It\u2019s always working alongside your surface mind, even when you&#8217;re not physically working. <strong>It processes and organizes your ideas and brings you solutions as insights when you forget to think<\/strong>, like when brushing your teeth or hiking. It enjoys the work and waits patiently for an opportunity to share what it\u2019s done.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many artists are humble about their work because they understand that they are not wholly responsible for it. They receive help from this other conscious sphere. They become mere tools to dictate what this mystical mind tells them. They can\u2019t explain what\u2019s happening, but they know that it is beyond the power of their surface brain, or what is called Ego.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is connecting with your higher self the key to creative achievement? How can you go about connecting with your higher self? Connecting with your higher self means opening yourself up to higher planes of consciousness, which you often can&#8217;t access due to external distractions. In this state of mind, you&#8217;ll experience creative inspiration and will improve your creative output. Learn about connecting with your higher self below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":3404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[448],"class_list":["post-44644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-spiritual","tag-the-war-of-art","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Artist&#039;s Guide to Connecting With Your Higher Self - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Connecting with your higher self is the key to artistic achievement. 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Find out how you can do this to increase creative output.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-01T10:49:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-22T21:33:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-mindfulness-and-happiness.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"808\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"495\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Shaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rina\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Shaw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Shaw\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df3c3c8448816a34bfdc78d7eda164c4\"},\"headline\":\"The Artist&#8217;s Guide to Connecting With Your Higher Self\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-01T10:49:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-22T21:33:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/\"},\"wordCount\":420,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-mindfulness-and-happiness.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The War of Art\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\",\"Spiritual\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/\",\"name\":\"The Artist's Guide to Connecting With Your Higher Self - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/connecting-with-your-higher-self\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-mindfulness-and-happiness.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-01T10:49:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-22T21:33:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"Connecting with your higher self is the key to artistic achievement. 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