Why am I here? That’s the question that we all struggle to answer during our lifetimes. What is my purpose? That’s another way of putting it, and some people never figure out an answer. They spend their entire lives making a living, accumulating more stuff and more debt and more misery. When we are out of alignment with our purpose, we suffer. When we are in alignment, we flourish. It is a wonderful thing to figure out why we are here and what our purpose is. I think that I am figuring that out for myself.
I love art. I love making art, I love sharing my art, I love talking about art, and I love connecting through my art. And it’s that last part where my purpose lies. Hey, it would be great to sell art and make it as a professional artist, but I have bigger plans. I have a bigger mission in mind. I believe wholeheartedly that I am here on this Earth to help other people connect to their creativity. In my forty-two years of life, I have figured out a thing or two about creativity, and I want to share and inspire.
The thing is the word “creativity” has so much baggage attached to it, and it’s hard for people to really grasp it. Actually, that word scares a lot of people. It’s intimidating, and there are a lot of folks out there who will swear they have no creativity at all. But they are confused and confounded. Creativity is an innate human capacity. It’s our original programming. “If you’re alive, you’re creative,” to quote author Patti Digh.
But throughout history we have cloaked the concept of creativity in romanticized ideas and wrapped it in a veil of mystery and magic. Writers, artists, scientists, and philosophers of the past have written and spoken about creativity in enigmatic ways, but creativity is such a straight forward and simple idea. Ken Robinson says that creativity is about coming up with new ideas that have value, and we are all capable of that. However, fear, doubt, judgement, and misunderstanding all get in the way of seeing our own creativity clearly. Our world extols conformity, so it’s no wonder that so many people don’t believe in their own capacity for creativity. When we are so easily mocked, ridiculed, and chastised by others for our seemingly odd ideas, it takes a strong will to hold onto a unique way of being in the world.
But what if we could put the fear, the doubt, the apprehension, and the judgement out of our minds? What if we could simply be in this moment right here, right now? We would find a moment of endless possibility. No fear, no doubt, no little voice saying we’re doing it wrong. We would find the seed of creativity. Creativity isn’t an art thing, an intelligence thing, a genius thing. It’s a human thing, and when we connect to our creativity, we connect to our humanity on the deepest level.
In our ego driven world that is bent on keeping up appearances and having a fixed identity, it’s difficult to be in the moment. It is my mission to help others connect to the present moment where their authentic voice can be heard in full expression of their innate creativity.
4 comments:
Two years ago I had a parent tell me she didn't want her daughter in my class because I intimidated her daughter because I was too creative! Say what? I told her being able to draw or paint doesn't make a person creative, it is a state of mind, having the ability to think!
I told her that her daughter was one of the most creative thinkers I have ever known.
Throughout the year the girl wrote amazing stories and poems, generated thoughtful debate comments and speeches, created interesting and creative videos for her assignments, she choreographed dances for the whole class to dance, she unfolded quirky visual journal pages with captions and illustrations... the list could go on.
At the end of the year, her daughter sent me a very long email thanking me for showing her that creativity is how you think and is not just about being a visual artist!
A good book to read about understanding our place in the world is called The Five People You Meet in Heaven, written by Mitch Ablom. It is very powerful and a short novel for busy people like teachers and artists...
I have read The Five People You Meet in Heaven - great book.
If more people openly looked at their lives, they might just see how creative they are. How many students creatively break the rules at school? How many people relatively solve little problems that come up. There are just so many myths that float around creativity. I want to help dispel some of them.
i agree - i have friends who can cook gourmet meals out of nothing , or decorate their homes on little money ,or put together an outfit from thrift store finds and look like they had designer clothes on .these same people tell me they aren't creative , and i tell them creativity can take many forms ,it is a state of mind - if you can think ,you can be creative.
peegee, Thanks for the comment. I wish to open people's eyes to the creativity within. That's my mission.
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