CREATIVITY

“I do not yet know what I carry in my heart, but I trust
that it will emerge as I write.”- Henry Nouwen

I hung up the phone this morning after a long chat with a
friend, and this quote in a post by Jen Hatmaker was the first to pop up. I
know I’m biased, but writing is magic. That’s just all there is to it. In the
months leading up to my thirtieth birthday, when I was about to lose my mind
trying to figure out what my purpose in the grand scheme of things was, the
only advice my mom had to offer was to write. “Have you started writing yet?
Just write.” It seemed to be her only response to my long list of complaints.
It made me insane. One day, I finally sat down and wrote just so I could tell
her I’d tried it, she was wrong, I wasn’t a creative person, she didn’t know
anything and it was time for her to step up to the plate of motherhood and give
me some solid answers. I think we all know that’s not the gratification that
came from that first journal entry. It was nothing earthshattering, but the act
itself made me feel better somehow. Viv was right. Mom’s usually are. She couldn’t give me the answers to my feelings of complacency, but
she knew how to direct me towards discovering them within myself. She wasn’t
suggesting I sit down and write an entire book (that was just me being
impulsive), nor am I suggesting anyone else should (although I wish everyone
would). We all have a story worthy of sharing, and telling them is what connects
us. But, even if writing is not your calling, I feel certain that creativity in
any form has got to be the path to the bigger picture of what we’re all doing
here. In my mind, I see it as our closest connection to God…the creator…it seems to me that working through a creative process is the simplest way for
humans to know God and in turn, ourselves, more fully. I will never claim to be the world’s most
profound writer, but I know this: When something is weighing on me and I allow myself to sit with it, in the quiet, and put words to paper, my subconscious heart takes shape and it’s never in the way I expect it to.

I learn something of myself, or of the world around
me every time. It’s fascinating to see how the very smallest thought can open
up an entirely different world, how the words form a current pushing me from
one perspective to a new one. A single sentence, the stroke of a brush, the
strum of a chord. Creativity is powerful. It’s magic. It’s God. If it sounds
bogus, I get it. I used to wait for someone to give me a better answer, too. Now I’m glad she didn’t try. Just write. Or sing, or dance, or paint. I
promise creativity will take you further than that initial spark. What you
carry in your heart will find it’s way out and you might be surprised by what
it has to say.