Thomas Troward & The Creative Process
One Sunday afternoon in a baking hot July, I stumbled upon the meaning of life.
I was sitting in the sunshine in my little Yorkshire garden, reading a little known and rather complex book called The Creative Process In The Individual.
Given the title, I’d expected it to be a book about creativity and the creative process as we know it i.e., the things we do to produce our creative work.
(As my obsession with the creative process has increased over the years, almost any book with ‘creative’ or ‘creativity’ in the title makes it onto my reading list.)
But this book was thinking much bigger than our everyday creativity…
It was exploring how the planets were formed, how humans developed and the evolutionary nature of life.
Excitingly, it explained not only how we got here and why – but also what’s coming up!
It was certainly a fascinating read, though not always an easy one.
But it was the core theory of the book that sparked a whole new take on the meaning of life…
• • •
Thomas Troward’s inspiring theory of the meaning of life
The theory is this:
There is one universal source of all life – both spirit and matter.
Science calls this energy, religion calls this God.
You may prefer Creator, the Divine, Spirit, Infinite Intelligence, Quantum Field, Higher Self – feel free to use your chosen label for the life force that keeps our hearts pumping and the planets spinning.
This Source is intelligent, it is everywhere at once and it is all powerful. It can do everything – anything!
Except… experience itself.
Because it is everywhere, it can’t observe its own might and goodness.
It needs to separate, to splinter off so it can take a good look and enjoy its brilliant creation. It needs to individuate.
How does it do that?
After a long process of evolution, the current way is… via humans.
We are essentially aspects – splinters – of the divine. A little like sun beams are part of the sun, or waves are part of the ocean.
We are divine sparks.
And our sole reason for being here is to express this divinity – in our own unique way.
Source wants to see the many varied and wonderful ways its life force can be expressed in the world.
That’s why we’re all different – so we can each play a different and interesting role during our time here.
So, we are embodiments of this divine nature AND we have our own little twist, our own flavour.
This is our creative spirit.
Our divine creative spirit
Our creative spirit is essentially divine, but with a uniqueness that is purely ours.
To sum up this theory, in as much as I understand it:
Our unique creative spirit is a splinter of the divine, channeled through the filter of our uniqueness.
And the reason we are here,
is to play out this beautiful blend –
to express our divine nature
mixed with our unique spirit.
Are you as excited as I was by this idea?
That we are aspects of the divine – and we are here just to be us!
Those inclinations and preferences and creative urges are not only unique, but they are perfect.
And divine!
I was hooked when I first read this idea and the more I study it, the more I find it an empowering and liberating way to approach both creativity and life.
And so I share my take on this slightly mind-boggling concept in the hopes that you may see your desire to create and express is a whole new light.
Because something shifts when we play with the idea that we are aspects of the divine.
And the idea that we are here to express our unique creative spirit can be both a joy and a relief.
So, I invite you to dabble with this idea, to consider that those creative callings that you feel are perfect – they are the role you are here to play.
And see what effect this fascinating theory has on your creativity, your self-image and your role in the world.

You can get a taste of this joy-based journey to career clarity in the free sample Introduction here.