Day 10: Creativity and Bob the Snowman
Hello lovely readers of all things bloggy. :)
Bloggy is actually a real word! Who woulda thunk it?
Today marks 10 days in my 25 Days of Creativity and in the last three days I have been a bit absent.
This weekend was filled with Christmas decorating, braiding hair, work, and mostly doing my hair.
Meet Bob the snowman. My sister created this masterpiece.
So, there wasn't much time of creating, but there was much catching up on Elementary, which was quite enjoyable.
But during my somewhat hiatus I've spent some time thinking on the act of creativity and how my creating can sometimes be so easily influenced by what I think it should look like based off of my unrealistic expectations (comparison) or my consumption of other people's Instagram feeds.
There are a number of things that can impede on a person's process in writing, dancing, or whatever outlet one chooses to create in. I understand that inspiration is a beautiful thing, but inspiration should never lead way into comparison.
Comparison causes a stunt in your own ability to create what only you can create due to the exercise of trying to achieve what someone else has achieved.
For myself I notice how all too easy it is for me to think my writing or dancing is subpar compared to someone else's and all the while I am in this process of becoming and growing into the woman and creator I believe with all that I am God has called me to be. It's hard sometimes when it comes to social media, trying to build a following, and all of the work that comes with that. It's difficult learning how to trust myself with what God has given, but I trust Jesus and I know my process is my own.
However, in this process of life I truly don't want to create and reproduce themes of creativity that already exist. I want to be myself, wholly and fully. I want to write the way I write, dance the way I dance, and create the way that I do without allowing other perspectives or opinions to cloud what God and I have conversed about concerning my life and goals.
There is a hope I have for you, my readers and others as well, to create and be who God crafted you to be. There are a lot of carbon-copy people in the world all trying to manipulate creativity to create and do something that has been done a million times over. No one can do what you do, the way God created you to do it.
And I know without doubt that there is beauty in being one's self and being whole within; mind, body, and spirit. I believe pure creativity comes from us knowing who we are as we were designed by our Creator. Pure creativity is trusting ourselves and the ability given to us, and knowing that despite critics and opinions, you have something, a gift-- and that comes with a responsibility to cultivate it, whether for the public eye or in private.
All this week I've been reading and re-reading Psalms 19 in different versions.
In the passion translation version (TPT) Psalm 19:1 says,
God’s Story in the Skies
1. God’s splendor is a tale that is told;his testament is written in the stars.Space itself speaks his story every day through the marvels of the heavens.His truth is on tour in the starry vault of the sky,showing his skill in creation’s craftsmanship.
2. Each day gushes out its message to the next,night with night whispering its knowledge to all.
3. Without a sound, without a word, without a voice being heard,
4. Yet all the world can see its story. Everywhere its gospel is clearly read so all may know.
5. What a heavenly home God has set for the sun, shining in the superdome of the sky! See how he leaves his celestial chamber each morning, radiant as a bridegroom ready for his wedding, like a day-breaking champion eager to run his course.
6. He rises on one horizon, completing his circuit on the other,warming lives and lands with his heat.
I've been in such awe of this entire chapter and when I read this and I think about writing poetry or anything creative I am amazed that my God, my Abba is THE Creator of all things beautiful, sacred, all things full of love. He seeks us even in nature. This passage reminds me of His Glory and that it is a gift to create, to love, to grow, to do life and know that God and all of heaven is backing me, pushing me forward, and reminding me where I come from.
Creatively,
~A
Catch more of my sister's artwork octavidmason.wordpress.com