The Creator's Way: Finding Your Way, Framing Your Stories and Freeing a Spirit of Healing

By Mary Pat Lambert and Kary Oberbrunner

Did you know that you are hardwired to turn adversities into your strongest assets?

What if we could participate in a creative culture that honours our stories for their strengths instead of shaming our imperfections?

IMAGINE finding a way where your stories facilitate a spirit of love and healing! <

• Language: English
• Publisher: Author Academy Elite
• Release date: Apr 21, 2024
• ISBN: 9798885832991

Mary Pat Lambert

Mary Pat Lambert earned an MSc. in Community Health and Epidemiology and a BA (Hon) in Psychology at the U of S. Along with sharing a blended family with Chris and spoiling their grandchildren, she has gathered decades of experience through community initiatives, research, education, policy and programming, small business, and the arts in local, national, and international settings.

Book preview

Step into the enchanting world of creativity and healing with Mary-Pat Lambert's captivating book. In this beautifully crafted exploration, Mary-Pat invites readers to embrace their innate creative spirit, unlocking the transformative power of imagination and self-expression. With a blend of insightful wisdom and gentle encouragement, this delightful book encourages us to view ourselves as creatives, weaving a tapestry of inspiration that resonates long after the final page.

- Dr Farah Shroff

Public Health Educator and Researcher; Founder,

Maternal and Infant Health Canada; Principal, Darya Consulting; Board Member, Harvard Health Lab, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

An antidote for the current era of isolation and suffering. Mary-Pat Lambert takes the reader through her story of discovery and healing. Ablaze with positivity and faith, her blueprint challenges us towards personal, communal and spiritual growth.

- Dr. Erik Howarth M.D., CFPC

Physician for Pain Management

"The Creator’s Way is for anyone who is ready to turn their pain into a platform of healing, hope, and renewal. Mary Pat Lambert has brilliantly put together a creative process that helps you discover a power right within you that gives you the capacity to redefine life with a new sense of purpose and authentic living."

- Dr. Tony Colson

Owner Greatness Makers, Pastor ICON Church,

TonyColson.com

Mary Pat’s experiences, spiritual discovery and overall zest for life comes through so real and authentic. Despite struggles, she perseveres and looks for opportunities to conquer the world. She has a gift for storytelling that is absorbing, fresh, intense and powerful. Three quarters of the way through, I thought 'I hope she writes another book'. I feel honoured to have gone through this physical and emotional journey, like I was living her life with her.

- Nina Jetha, BSc. (Biochemistry), MPH (Public Health)

Senior Leader, Agent for Change, Public Health Agency of Canada

"So many of the most intriguing conversations I have had over the years with different people in different places all over the world are tethered together here in Mary Pat Lambert’s book, The Creator’s Way. A remarkable journey The Creator’s Way will take you on - to say the least. This book manages to weave its way through topics such as inner healing, motivation, science, current events and perfectly timed cultural shifts while being vulnerable with her own journey that birthed forth the ideas of Creatology and Creatonomy. The inspired message is clearly embedded with profound Love that is acting as an overflowing cup that has a life force to begin a healing process in your spirit instantaneously. Simply in the action of reading this tapestry of woven words I am being boldly led into the epicentre of the Creator’s intent for me. I find myself crying with relief that I am being healed by the sharing of Mary Pat’s story and allowing my story to intersect and enter the collective space of sharing our pain and our victory to heal ourselves and to help others. Every chapter is intriguing enough on it’s very own to spark a conversation with your neighbour your colleague, your best friend, or the taxi driver – in so doing you would be contributing to your own healing and adding to the collective connections that are healing for all those engaged in the conversation. In other words, you will be refreshed, overjoyed and changed for the better by taking the time to read this little book of great ideas and possibility. I will be putting this book in front of every loved one, colleague, and friend in my life so we can share our stories and find healing through creating – starting with conversations."

- Estelle C Forbes, BA Psychology

Specialty: PsychoEducational Programs & Services for Infant Mental Health; Child & Youth Mental Health Practitioner & Educator for Ministry of Child & Family Development; Parksville, British Columbia, Canada

"The Creator's Way is the perfect tool for anyone who strives to integrate their spiritual path with their creative work. This book adds a new perspective to the work of others such as Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way. Mary Pat's personal story is compelling and her description of the concept of "creatology," (the creator's way of knowing) and her dynamic approach to collective healing practices which she has named "creatonomy is extremely useful and will provide creatives from many genres with a practical course of action. Mary Pat's professional experience as an applied public health researcher really shines through and adds credibility to her work.

- Diane Perazzo, BA (Hon) English Literature,

MA Canadian Studies

Poet and Legacy Writing Facilitator.

Mary Pat Lambert shows how the power of creativity connects us to the innovations that can rebuild systems from their roots. I learned that we all play a role in healing and that our richest resources rest in the way we live our lives, mistakes included. This is a must read!

- Cesar Cervantes, Founder of Top Talks

The Creator's Way

Finding Your Way, Framing Your Stories and Freeing a Spirit of Healing

Mary Pat Lambert

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Author Academy Elite

The Creator's Way ©2024 by Mary Pat Lambert. All rights reserved.  

Published by Author Academy Elite

PO Box 43, Powell, OH 43065

 IgnitingSouls.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

LCCN: 2023923380

ISBN: 979-8-88583-297-7 (paperback)

ISBN: 979-8-88583-298-4 (hardback)

ISBN: 979-8-88583-299-1 (ebook)  

Available in paperback, hardback, e-book, and audiobook 

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Author Academy Elite, nor does Author Academy Elite vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

Contents

LIST OF TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE — FINDING YOUR WAY

1.CREATING A WAY

2.CREATIVE ROOTS

3.FINDING MY WAY

4.LOVE OF WISDOM

5.REVISITING YOUR PURPOSE

6.CREATOLOGY—THE CREATOR’S WAY OF KNOWING

7.FINDING YOUR WAY

PART TWO — FRAMING YOUR STORIES

8.GUIDING THE WAY

9.BUILDING CORE RELATIONSHIPS

10.BUILDING CONTEXT RELATIONSHIPS

11.NURTURING A COLLECTIVE SPIRIT OF HEALING

12.CREATONOMY—GUIDING THE CREATOR’S WAY WITH STORY CIRCLES

13.CREATOGRAPHY—CAPTURING THE CREATOR’S WAY IN ACTION

PART THREE — FREEING A SPIRIT OF HEALING

14.CREATING MOMENTUM

EPILOGUE: TRANSFORMING OUR LEGACIES

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

ADDENDUM ONE: FOR DECISION-MAKERS, EVALUATORS AND RESEARCHERS

ECLECTIC SOURCES

GLOSSARY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ENDNOTES

LIST OF TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

TABLES

Table 1: The Creatonomy Guide for Managing Group Discussions- p. 164

ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1: Image of The Helix Nebula – The Eye of God- p. 74

Figure 2: Abstract paintings, 1993 - Mary Pat Lambert - p. 110

Figure 3: Early Exploration of the Creator’s Way: Spirit Side - Mary Pat Lambert- p. 111

Figure 4: Early Exploration of the Creator’s Way: Grounded Side - Mary Pat Lambert- p. 112

Figure 5: Concept of the continuum of influence in action- p. 144

Figure 6: The Story Circle- p. 148

Figure 7: Creatonomy Guide: Building Story Circle Frameworks for Action- p. 150

To all those

who know the trenches of survival

and continue to transcend,

finding the courage to love and heal

and share their stories with the world.

Thank you for

continuing to

light

the way.

FOREWORD

Mary Pat’s life-long dream to write a book connected me with her when she first shared her vision for The Creator’s Way at our 2015 conference in Columbus, Ohio. As CEO of Igniting Souls, whose purpose is to set free world-changing ideas, promoting her insight and invitation to healing as a collective is an honor. We share a vision to set souls on fire, and she has demonstrated this effectively in our Igniting Souls community over the years.

As a survivor of my own traumas and publisher of numerous self-help books, I believe Mary Pat is uniquely equipped to share her innovative approach to finding our way, framing our stories, and freeing a spirit of healing. She brings her academic expertise in health and wellness to us, along with her struggles and propensity to promote change, which underscores why she has been given this message to share. She recognizes the richness of our stories and their ability to grow and heal our lives and masterfully guides us to the message of change these experiences bring. This process becomes a guiding framework, the Story Circle Framework, that can inform the most casual conversation as skillfully as it can bring together the right collaborations to address any of the countless struggles we face in this lifetime.

In its simplest terms, Mary Pat presents a REFLECT–ENGAGE approach to healing. We build and rebuild relationships as we both reflect and engage, beginning by rooting ourselves in our relationship with ourselves. The Creator’s Way is not for artists alone but for creatives. Creativity is not a skill set nor an aptitude but a birthright. Without it, we cannot survive this human journey that our souls are carrying us through. Mary Pat presents evidence to support the reality that we are all driven to create by virtue of the source from which we were designed and makes a compelling argument that the struggles and adversities we face are necessary to help us capture a glimpse of the spark we all share. We cannot realize our light, our vision, and our purpose without the shadows. This tension between our light and the shadows underplays a life’s purpose of healing as we strive to become that perfect existence within this imperfect world. It is because of our trials and errors that we are able to grow, learn, and become who we are meant to be.

Mary Pat shows us how much context matters in our lives. The systems we create to guide us through life are only as strong as the light that guides them. She points out that context limits our free will and choices, that we all enter this world dependent on relationships with our surroundings and social reality. By acknowledging these differences, we are better able to find ways to heal gaps in our systems and rebuild where they are breaking down.

So, I encourage you to take this journey to find your own creative spark. In it, you will find your passion that will energize you from your core and spill over into the lives of everyone you meet.

—Dr. Kary Oberbrunner, CEO of Igniting Souls, WSJ and USA Today Bestselling author of 13 books

INTRODUCTION

. . . Way is empty. Use it: it never needs filling. An abyss so deep it seems ancestor to the ten thousand things, it blunts edges, loosens tangles, softens glare, mingles dust. A clarity so clear it only seems real, whose child could it be?

—Tao Ching, The Four Chinese Classics

My feeling is that the concept of creativeness and the concept of the healthy, self-actualizing, fully human person seems to be coming closer and closer together and may perhaps turn out to be the same thing.

—Abraham Maslow, The Creative Attitude

The vast mysteries of the universe should only confirm our belief in the certainty of its Creator. I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science.

—Werner von Braun

Welcome to The Creator’s Way , an exploration of the most intimate relationship in your life, that between you and your Creator. All things are possible when you find your way, supported by an eternal and unconditional love. You are forever connected with your Creator’s healing light that shines through any human imperfection, pouring into your life’s story and the lives of others. The title of this book was inspired by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way that has helped many readers across all walks of life. The Creator’s Way is unique from Julia’s brilliant work in that I am exploring the connection with our Creator as an endless supply of creativity that can be accessed through creative expression beyond the arts and can be accessed simply by becoming. Without a doubt, I believe our books complement one another. Both books highlight the connection between spirituality and creativity, albeit in our own unique ways. Julia’s exercise of the morning pages complements The Creator’s Way of exploring your personal relationship with your Creator. In this book, you will focus on healing through creativity in relationship with your Creator and with each other and exploring ways of healing our social systems by sharing our stories as a collective and building on our strengths.

You inherited this lifeline at birth when your Creator launched you on this human journey, ready for you to return home at the end of this earthly experience. Until then, we can call home anytime, anywhere, and your Creator always picks up! You will learn that strengthening your relationship with your home base is the Creator’s Way to unravel your story of healing in this world.

First, you need to know where you come from, where you are going and the strengths that carry you through. The book takes you through a REFLECT – EXPLORE process. You will find opportunities to use your voice, your own experiences to help you absorb what you’ve read. You will be provided with a set of questions that you can reflect on at the end of each chapter or save until you’ve completed each of the three parts of the book. Engage Your Voice, your way, it’s your choice.

In Part One, you’ll begin to understand your inheritance of the Creator’s Way by looking closer at your origin. I’ll share my story about finding my way creatively while embracing the struggle. We will look at how this process healed me and grew me when there seemed to be no way through pain, suffering, and grief, including journeys of love and forgiveness. You will look at your identity and how it all ties into your creative exploration. I also highlight a love of wisdom through my experiences of growing through these healing experiences, and how the philosophy of The Creator’s Way was born. Then I will share more of my story about finding my way. Together, we’ll revisit your purpose in finding your way and the role health and healing play on our journey. To do so, I will introduce the Creator's Way of knowing which I’ve called creatology—the study of the Creator’s Way. You will learn about living in the shadows of your Creator’s perfect light, the possibilities of a creative culture, and what it means to speak of your Creator and of your spirit. You