Created to Create

I find it beyond ironic that just when I had to write a piece on creativity, my words left. They packed their bags and hurried away en masse leaving just enough stragglers so I wouldn’t be embarrassed as I bumbled through my days.

Have you ever experienced that zombie-like state that exists when you lose the ability to create? You wake up one day and life isn’t the same as it was before. The colours aren’t as vibrant … food doesn’t taste as good. It’s not death but… it’s a state of wonder-less living.

My writer’s block caused me to ponder the question: What would life be like if there was nothing creative?

What would the world be like if our clothes were made in varying shades of grey? What if every lip gloss, every lipstick was the same unappealing shade of thundercloud grey?

What if God had decided to create the universe in the starkness of black, white and grey? What if life was one long, never-ending re-run of the early scenes of Pleasantville?

Let’s take it a step further: what if music never existed and there were no encouraging songs to get us through the dull/listless days or those painful events? Birds didn’t sing. Babies didn’t coo. Dogs were silent and so was every other animal on earth…. What would the world be like then?

I remember a time when every artiste wanted to be different. They wanted a unique look and a sound unlike any other. Today it seems the opposite is true. Everyone wants to be successful so they stick to the formula… almost as if they’re made from a mold.

Bloggers are not exempt from this cookie-cutter model. “Be unique!” the experts shout. “Find your niche, but remember to do everything exactly the same as everyone else.”

As women, we experience the same call to fit a mold: you must weigh exactly this much and no more! Your children need to be raised this way. Everything in your home must match the latest furniture commercial and on and on it goes.

Do you find yourself struggling to find your voice amidst the chatter of the crowd? Do you find it becoming more difficult to be creative? To be different? Do you find yourself making excuses to blend in with the background?

I have a piece of advice for you: don’t.

Do not go gently into the night. Remember who your Father is. “Behold I do a new thing.” He tells us. “Now it shall spring forth, shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

God is always doing something new and we are made in His image. It may not always feel like it but we were created to create. Not everyone is going to be Mozart or Shakespeare or Picasso… but I can be me and you can be you.

Maybe your creativity is best seen in the way you verbally express yourself, or in the way you style your hair. Maybe it comes out in the meals you prepare for your family. It may be that game you made up to play with your children. Whatever you do, be you. Unique. Beautiful. Creative. You.

How does your creativity come out? Share it in the comments below.