Created to be Creative
You know how social media starts serving up themes to you sometimes? For whatever reason, one of the themes for me lately is how creativity is something built into humans by the creator Himself. For once, this is an algorithm trend I really like. If you know me, you know creativity is a constant thread in my thinking anyway as are things to do with God and faith, so combining them works just fine.
I am a whistling woman, which an old, old saying would have you think is a very bad thing—and no, there is not a Bible verse associated with this. Anyhow, seems I spend a lot of time whistling without really thinking about it. Well, recently I started thinking about it. I am wondering how it is that I am not much of a singer in terms of being able to hit the notes, but am a pretty good whistler. How does that work? Sometimes I whistle in the wrong key, but I know I am in the wrong key and can correct it. How does someone with no musical training know to do that? I am fully aware I am just a regular whistler, not a whistling virtuoso (I have known a few), but even a regular whistler like me can create pleasant music.
Why do I say I am not much of singer? Because a significant person in my life has told me so and made fun of me every time I sang for all of my life, because that is what significant people in their life did to them, so it was just the normal thing to do. I love a good and skillful vocalist, but my favorite singers are the voices with character, not those who are pitch-perfect on every note. I value expressiveness over technical perfection.
How many of you have experienced similar discouragement when you have sang, danced, acted, drawn, painted, sewn, embroidered, decorated, gardened, built…really anything expressive or creative? Observation tells me that especially of people around my age and older, most of us have experienced such discouragement. That sort of discouragement and ridicule seems to have diminished in subsequent generations. In my efforts to help other people find their God-given creativity, I find I spend the most time trying to undo the discouragement and assure people that “yes, you can do this.” It is a beautiful thing to see when they realize they have done the thing they have always been told they could not.
In the crafting world, I have often heard variations on the phrases, “perfection is the enemy of good” and “done is better than perfect.” Perfectionism is a joykiller for sure and is what stops a lot of us from even trying. But I am thinking if God created us to be creative, maybe we should be creative. Maybe it is wrong of us to let the discouragement and perfectionism of humans to discourage us from expressing our gifts. My creative pursuits make me more grateful and reverent for God’s presence and love, they help me with Psalm 46:10 and 1 Thessalonians 4:11—grab a Bible and look them up, you will be glad you did! SpringCreek-ArtsGuild@gmail.com