Allow me to share a comment that is made to me pretty much on a weekly basis.
It starts with: “I would love to do [commence elaborate explanation of plan to execute thing that you’re passionate about].”
And is followed by one of or both of these statements: “But I don’t have time.” / “But I still have to do [insert all of the things that you need to do so you’ll be ready].”
Everyone seems more put together and professional to they outside world than they actually feel.
I grew up in a household where we were encouraged to create, to set goals to publish books, to write blog posts, to record music before we’d even graduated from grade school. While none of my siblings or I made it as childhood superstars, my parents cultivated the capacity to create within our souls.
A five-year-old isn’t “ready,” but that doesn’t stop him from expressing his heart in the form of marker scribbles. It’s about a heart expression, not overthought, just done, and done, and done again.
The desire for excellence is important; but that desire should push us into the risk of art, of creativity.
As my boyfriend so beautifully reminds me, it’s not that we don’t have time: it’s that we’re choosing to not prioritize whatever it is that we’re talking about, and give it time.
And there’s always a picking and choosing when it comes to how we spend our valuable time; there is only so much, and we can’t spend it on everything. But carving space for creativity’s exhale should be a must; the breathing of new life, that isn’t contingent upon worldly success.
Some of my favorite articles that I’ve written have gotten incredibly low views, and I’m so okay with it, because the measure of my success is not my reach or my numbers. The measure of my success is the fact that today, I’ve cut out space to breathe how my soul was meant to breathe. To do something that doesn’t have immediate pay-off, but is simply an expression, a glimpse into my heart, my dance with the Father. It takes the pressure of living off of my shoulders when I choose to do something merely because I want to do it, rather than I need to do it.
Creativity isn’t about preparedness, or a level of education. It’s not about an arrival point; it’s about taking the plunge pre-degree, pre-vocation, pre-knowing what you’re going to do with your life, and then going and going and going.
That’s something that I have fallen in love with: sharing the process, sharing the journey. I never want to create from a place of having figured it all out; also, I don’t think that that point will ever come.
You’re never ready, and you’ll never have more than twenty-four hours in a day.
You don’t need an expertise to speak; you don’t need the most expensive acrylics to paint. The world craves the vulnerability of your heart, expressed through whatever medium present.
SO! Here are some ways to embrace the creativity that is already present in your soul:
Cultivate wonder. Wonder at the world; at the little girl with unruly hair and light-up shoes running through the restaurant with a taco, squealing. Be captivated by the world around you. Slow down, and realize the movement surrounding your existence. Be in awe, and linger there.
Tune your soul to your Father’s. He’s constantly creating the world; He is the source of all creativity. The best advice I can give to foster creativity is to spend time with Him, every day, and to invite Him into your creative process.
Realize that you are gifted and that there’s space for you. You’re creative, because He’s created you creative. Stop saying “I’m not creative,” because then you will never create. You’re creative in the way you go about your morning routine, the way you solve problems, the way you fold clothes, the way that you sit on the ground. It’s just in who you are; it’s in the way you think and experience life.
Creativity flees upon the attack of comparison; therefore, destroy the boxes. Your creativity isn’t supposed to look like anyone else’s. Of course, there’s such a thing as objective talent; for example, my doodles will never be someone’s realistic paintings. But that doesn’t mean there’s no point for me to create. It’s so easy to look at social media and all of the great creatives and initiatives out there, and think that nothing we ever do will match up. Well, the point of creating is not to be seen.
When I write, or do any kind of creativity, mostly, it’s about a soul expression, a heart exhale. That’s why every word is a success, every brush stroke is a victory.
There’s space for you, insofar as you make space for the birth of beauty. If you’re waiting for an invitation to the creativity party, here it is.
People have told me before that everything has already been said and done; and I’ll fight you on that one, but even if elements of it are true– you haven’t been the one to say or do, and that makes it totally different. Because no one can create with your experience; no one can build with your history and the way that you filter the world.
Just start. Sure, maybe, come up with a plan, but don’t get stuck in the process. The process should move you, not contain you.
Don’t wait until you graduate, until you’re married, until you’re just a little bit ahead. Even if it’s just thirty minutes a week, create space to do something that isn’t directly related to obligation, or work, or survival. Don’t measure success, don’t judge yourself; just get it out, and keep going.
What’s that dream on your heart, that you’ve been wanting to do forever? What’s holding you back? Identify the fear, and call it out as “liar.”
One of the best talks I went to as a college student was from an incredible professor who talked about the importance of creating life, not just with our bodies. Obviously, as man and woman, we have a unique gift of imaging the Trinity, in co-creation. There’s something beautiful about the reality that we’re called to bring life into the world through our bodies, but it doesn’t stop there. We can create life, co-creating with the Creator, in our art every single day.
And then, if you’re called to marriage, creating with your significant other (whether dating, engaged, or married), is just the coolest thing ever. I’m not talking about sex; I mean drawing inspiration from each other, to create singularly and together.
Go do something that you don’t have to do. You’re not ready to create something perfect, and you never will be.
One last thought: There’s this “millennial” desire that we have when it comes to creativity that we have to be always producing the most tear-inducing, earth shattering, life changing thing EVER, and if we don’t, it’s a waste of space. I’m not an advocate for mediocrity, but you don’t our standards for “worthwhile” are perhaps a bit warped.
It doesn’t have to be the best ever. It doesn’t have to be excellent every time. That’s the relief in it; that’s where there’s release of the burden of the need to produce perfection. It’s your heart, it’s the exhale of who you are– and that is more than worthwhile. Sometimes, it’s emotional and gripping, and sometimes, it’s quiet and still. Either way, or whatever in between– creativity is always worth it.
Here are a couple projects I’ve been working on this year. I’d love to hear what you think!
The Colin and Annie Show | As The Builder Builds
CAPTIVATED FREEDOM 