Creative
When you t-y-p-e in the word “creative” Google blesses you with Four-hundred twenty-seven million results. (that isn’t just a LITTLE overwhelming, is it?)
Webster lists creativity as crea•tive (krē āt′iv)
Adjective
1. creating or able to create
2. having or showing imagination and artistic or intellectual inventiveness: creative writing
3. stimulating the imagination and inventive powers: creative toys
4. imaginatively or inventively deceptive: creative accounting
I suggest that creative/creativity is much more. Creativity is an invitation to each of us. To explore in any mode possible, regardless of how you express yourself- you have the opportunity; indeed the charge to be creative; to think about how to break the bonds of the “box” that we all seem far too willing to dwell in and really live fully. You do NOT need to be a professional or “profound” artist. You need to be a human being. (and no cracks about not being able to draw a straight line- psst- That is why they make rulers!) Creativity isn’t just a gift; it is a way of life.
Creativity breathes when you carefully create dinner out of two days of leftovers and your family thinks you have been cooking for hours, creativity allows you to see opportunity to take that dirt pile and make it into a flowering garden gifting the neighborhood. Creativity is the doodle that your father always makes on the paper table cloth in child friendly restaurants. You know the one that connects your present day to memories of the thirty five years ago when you were a little human- it’s not just a duck, it’s a connection, a bond… part of your life. Creativity is the bow you tie in your daughter’s hair, or the sculpture that is created out of found objects. It is in the pocket of a negotiator as he encourages two sides to create a more peaceful relationship, or the stylist who discovers her client’s new identity by shedding some of the hair once hid beneath. Creativity is everywhere, in every one.
The thing about creativity is that we allow and perhaps even invite too many other things to get in the way. We THINK we want all this "stuff" and then find it usually just gets in the way. I am not certain if this is out of fear (of success or failure) or perhaps it is just we do not see the direct connection between living the fullest and hiding safely beneath the clutter of life. My studio at the present moment in time is well, let’s just admit it, a total disaster! I dream of having the neat and tidy studio, with a labeled place for everything and everything in its place. You know beautiful working surfaces, and lots of opportunities to do nearly any kind of work I could ever dream of, with art supplies that are arranged like a piece of installation art.
Instead my studio is a metaphor for where I am in life, cluttered yet hopeful with countless possibilities! (if I would allow myself to take just one step at a time) So, this week is about creating a space where the ideas that have been swimming in my head can grow and bloom. One step at a time- I aim to purge, donate, and organize! I will NOT allow the clutter in my dedicated space to become an excuse to not live fully! I am excited and a little nervous about the possibility, but I know, fully know that this will allow ME to bloom and whatever comes next, will be perhaps unfamiliar, but an exciting part of the journey.
So consider this an invitation- what can YOU do to inspire more creativity in your precious life and those around you-
I’ll let you know how things go-
Be well, do good work & keep in touch
Susan
