CREATE
Am I creative? I use to struggle with this question. I can’t even properly sew on a button. I’m not creative because I don’t play music or sing or dance, I don't paint, draw, sew, or make things. This is the message I told myself for many years. I believed you were either born creative or meant for something else. It wasn’t until a trying time in my life I realized, creativity was inside me all along. It's inside all of us.
To create is to bring into existence.
Eleven years ago, after my daughter was born, I left my role at the company to be home. After years of building and growing our real estate company together, this transition was tough. I struggled staying home. I felt resentment, guilt and shame for not feeling more grateful. It was a difficult time for me, for my identity. I started writing to help sort things out. I’d wake up in the middle of the night with anxiety, the weight of an elephant on my chest and writing was the only way out. Thoughts and emotion would press into me so tightly I’d write and write, waiting for lightness to emerge. I could feel it flow out of me. Writing became my companion at a very lonely time. My place to process, understand and discover grace in the mess. This is when I knew. I wasa creator, a mother, this was my new existence.
Creativity is not calculated or perfect. It comes and goes when we least expect it. I am wired for planning and predictability, this has been my challenge with creativity. There are days when I call upon creativity and I’ve got nothing, no inspiration. Other times the urge is so strong I have no choice but to listen and respond, start writing. Learning to listen and respect this pull away and toward creating continues to teach me when I should wait, be the observer, learner and when I should be writing.
Creativity is not about competition or comparison. There are so many talented creators who inspire with their work but the gift of creating can only be found in our own unique, one-of-a-kind perspective we bring to the art or craft. Creativity is something we all carry inside of us, a gift we fully realize when we share it with the world. When we stay out of comparison or mimicry, we are able to bring out the authentic art we are meant to share, we are able to receive the true fulfillment of creating.
What’s your creative gift? What makes you feel like you don’t want to be doing anything else? Creativity comes in all forms, through our hands, our voice, our bodies. It’s there, I promise. The one thing that lights you up, adds energy, fulfillment and joy, it's your gift to share with the world.
