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Do you remember when you were little, and you loved projects? Slathering paint all over your hands to make crafts for parents? Or maybe you were a careful placer of dry macaroni noodles in fun and random patterns? What happened to that creativity?
cre·ate
- bring (something) into existence. (source)
- to cause to come into being, as something unique that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes.
- to evolve from one’s own thought or imagination, as a work of art or an invention.
- to cause to happen; bring about; arrange, as by intention or design: (source)
There are many ways to create. Most people hear about creativity and immediately dismiss themselves as potential creative material.
I can’t draw. I am not crafty.
But what if you let yourself explore– you don’t have to paint a sunset to be an artist. You just have to explore and create. Above is a book I began years ago that changed me forever. In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron leads you through writing processes and words to change how you view yourself– anyone can be creative. It’s in our souls to create. It’s so good there’s a 25th Anniversary Edition. And Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic rocked my world this fall… giving me permission to create just for the sake of creating, not expecting anything. After so many years of creating images for clients this was such a novel idea to me. And what freedom it presents! I love the words of Dieter F. Uchtdorf in this address: (see the whole address here)
You can create. Set in order a space to create harmony in your home, write a note to someone to create peace in their life, create shapes with your body as you dance to music in your living room.
There’s a driving force in me to create; I just can’t help it.
I need to create.
I want to form a ceramic bowl, to play a christmas piano solo, to get the right shape of meringue dessert, to draw the right swoop with the pen writing someone’s name…to mix blue and green dye on silk. there is something in me that just yearns to create. In whatever form. It’s never enough. But here is the paradox: my insatiable yearning to create is countered by the strict demands of perfectionism.
The result of creativity+perfectionism? Two paths:
- Paralyzed by all the possible negative outcomes, and I give up completely before I start.
- I start and… something is created. That wasn’t there before. And the more I do that creation, the easier it becomes.
Thank you for joining me. This is a scary journey to do, but it will be easier if I know you’re along for the ride.
Will you join me? Get me in your inbox. 🙂