03 May, 2011

Creativity; It's a Way of Life

I am not sure what my life would look like without creativity; I am not sure what I would do were my daughter not a kid who lives in her “right” brain.  Together, we are a house and a family of creative energy – that energy takes many different forms and extends beyond the walls and windows of our home.  It is more than the buckets and bins of drawing tools and paper scattered about our house or the various musical instruments both factory  and hand created.  It is larger than the flowers and plants and herbs that grace our balcony in summer and add life to our house in winter.  And it stretches beyond the creative masterpieces that emerge from our kitchen on any given morning or weekend late afternoon. 
Our creativity is a part of our everyday lives; but, it is also something that we share with the people in our lives and our community. 
  I have heard several a person comment that they are not creative.  In this they have an understanding that to create  and to be creative is to engage in the arts – to bring that which is imagined to life on paper, in words, in music, or in action.  But “create” is far more broad than this limited definition.  I am amazed at the technology that is created every day (TED is a great place to see this in action).  Or the amazing ways people create safety and security for themselves or for others. 
And it takes just a walk outside or listening carefully to the wind or the birds… amazing creative energy.
   April was a month of creating for me – creating space for new beginnings both in my own life and in our house.  It was a month of learning and creating using words in a more formal format; a month of working to create a sense of balance and acceptance for my daughter and myself as things transition into the unknown. 
I believe that we have choices – that life gives us opportunity after opportunity to create  something different or to create more of ourselves in a way.  We are faced with hardships; we have the room to create our response and choose the way forward.  We can find ways to make lemonade or we can stand motionless next to a pile of lemons or we can decide to be angry that we weren’t given oranges.  The idea is that we create with what we have and generate accordingly.
  We create; we choose; we generate… and as we move forward we are creating for the world at large.  My daughter creates wonderful drawings to send to relatives, encourages the friends in her class, and generates smiles wherever she goes.  Together we recognize the people around us and genuinely wish them well and give them thanks for all their efforts or their kindness. 
So when people tell me they aren’t creative – I wonder if they don’t realize all the wonder that they create each day; each moment; and with each thought. 
Creating is about getting your hand wet and playing in the paint or the mud; and it is about choosing to make choices and seeing people for who they are… human beings just like each of us.  ****

This month’s RAOKA theme was create; next month’s theme is Equanimity.  For more information on RAOKA or to read more Create posts - take a few minutes to click over and visit the lovely Zeenat - our wonder filled RAOKA host!! 

7 comments:

Sara said...

TE --

I think these are my favorite lines of this excellent post, "My daughter creates wonderful drawings to send to relatives, encourages the friends in her class, and generates smiles wherever she goes."

A child's parents create the life picture their children will see. They make it a scary picture, a hostile picture or they make shine with love, caring and compassion.

The lines above show me that you have created a wonderful life picture for your daughter and she is now using it to create her own:~)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi TE .. create is very misunderstood word as is encouragement .. if only we'd give credit to people for something small and encourage.

You seem to have grabbed creativity in a ball, which you and your daughter can play with .. and engage others in too ..

Love what you say here .. and Sara sums it up so well ..

Cheers for a happy fun filled creative summer .. Hilary

giulietta nardone said...

Hi TE,

What a wonderful creative sanctuary you and your daughter have created! I, too, am baffled by the number of folks who claim they are not creative. It may be that creative folks are associated with a certain amount of lawlessness, a bit of craziness, a disobedient streak. Sometimes I wonder if it's a polite way of saying, "I don't want to be a crazy Van Gogh type of person."

It definitely takes a sense of wildness to create madly and freely.

Love this line:

And it takes just a walk outside or listening carefully to the wind or the birds… amazing creative energy.

Just yesterday I was walking around my yard with our arborist and we stopped to listen to the symphony of birds playing for us. So few stop to even listen to that.

The world is magical if only people would wake up and learn to see it again.

Thanks! G.

Zeenat{Positive Provocations} said...

HI M! Oh you are the creator divine for sure...and so are we all.
You so beautifully point out that some people think they arent creative....but in true reality they are just scared of getting their hands wet...the wonder of the whole creating process is amazing in itself. Its so lovely that you are giving this gift to your daughter. She is lucky to have you around to encourage her creative spirit.
Thank you for this beautiful raoka post M! I love love love having you on board as my raoka team mate.
Lot of love,
Z~

Zeenat{Positive Provocations} said...

Darling M...i just wanted to ask if you are on twitter or facebook? I was tweeting your post..and wondered if you were on so I could share your name in there....

Ginny said...

This was such a wonderful post. I have always tried to live a creative life and encourage the students I taught to recognize and be proud of their own creative talents. We are all creative beings, we just have to acknowledge, use, and appreciate the unique gifts we possess.
(Visiting from Sara's blog Sharing Connection)

Aileen said...

"But “create” is far more broad than this limited definition... And it takes just a walk outside or listening carefully to the wind or the birds… amazing creative energy."

Inspiring others to discover their creativity is an amazing gift you give!