YOU ARE CREATIVE
YOU ARE CREATIVE
YOU ARE CREATIVITY
This is the very first message I want to share with you -- you are creative. You may not believe it (yet), but I know that you are, because every single living thing on this earth is made from Creativity, and shares in the urge to co-create. This is how we are wired from the very beginning.
You are creative -- I am creative -- in ways that we normally minimize. We create homes. We create careers. We create meals. We create life -- through bringing others to life; our children or our families or our friends or the person on the street corner. We bring life to all that we touch, all that we know, all that we do. We are creative.
You can probably accept this definition of creativity, but what about creating beauty through art? No, you say (as I used to), I don't have a creative bone in my body. We say, we aren't good enough; what will others think about what we produce? Even though in our dreams we long for more, we tell ourselves that we can't.
What I say in response is this: hogwash.
Jan Phillips, in her amazing book, Marry your Muse, writes:
"Ask any child. When children are painting or building castles of sand, there is nothing but fun going on. They are humming, licking their lips as they ponder each move, making big decisions about brown or sienna or just how to make their moat. They don't look at each others' work and compare. They don't wonder if Mommy will like it. Or worry that trees are not really purple. They are in love with the moment, thrilled at the chance to be making it up. There is no ego here. No child in the corner crying about not being good enough. They know what we as adults have long forgotten: that they all have a right to create what they want, and whatever they make is true and good."
Have you forgotten that what you create is true and good? Have you forgotten that you are true and good? These forgettings often go hand in hand, you know. A lack of confidence in ourselves limits what we think we are capable of as surely as the ocean storm eats away at the shore.
What would happen if you set aside those doubts with intent and determination for only one hour? No more. And not an hour a day. Once, for just an hour -- maybe less.
What would happen if you sat still for ten minutes, eyes closed, and thought about what creativity looks like to you? What creativity looks like on and in and through you? Look for your emotional response -- what feelings do these questions bring up in you?
What would happen if you then considered what colors those feelings were? Black for hopelessness? Purple for grief? Yellow for hope?
What would happen if you also considered what shapes these feelings were? Squares? Circles? Scribbles?
What would happen if you took out a sheet of paper -- any kind at all -- and a box of crayons, and translated those feelings and colors and shapes to paper?
Now, what would happen if you enclosed that translation in a border of love and honor? What if you colored a bright, vibrant square, rectangle, circle of protection around your expressed feelings? A border of protection from your own self-judgement and doubt. A border of protection from what others might think or say. What would that look like? What would that feel like?
What would happen if you then took up a pen and wrote on the back of your piece about how you felt before the exercise, and how you feel now? What would happen if you went into the colors and shapes and feelings and wrote down what they are trying to say to you?
And what would happen if you never had to share this piece with another human being? It is yours. Only yours.
It is your heart, your gut. It is your creative act.
It is the first step on your journey to recover your creativity.
*****
I would love to hear about your "What Would Happen If..." exercise! Please feel free to take a moment to comment here about what happened to you -- what you experienced before, what you experienced during, and what you experienced after.
If you feel the need to share your work, your art, please visit my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BourdoVisualArts, and upload in your post.
I look forward to hearing from you!!
Peace,
Laura
You are creative -- I am creative -- in ways that we normally minimize. We create homes. We create careers. We create meals. We create life -- through bringing others to life; our children or our families or our friends or the person on the street corner. We bring life to all that we touch, all that we know, all that we do. We are creative.
You can probably accept this definition of creativity, but what about creating beauty through art? No, you say (as I used to), I don't have a creative bone in my body. We say, we aren't good enough; what will others think about what we produce? Even though in our dreams we long for more, we tell ourselves that we can't.
What I say in response is this: hogwash.
Jan Phillips, in her amazing book, Marry your Muse, writes:
"Ask any child. When children are painting or building castles of sand, there is nothing but fun going on. They are humming, licking their lips as they ponder each move, making big decisions about brown or sienna or just how to make their moat. They don't look at each others' work and compare. They don't wonder if Mommy will like it. Or worry that trees are not really purple. They are in love with the moment, thrilled at the chance to be making it up. There is no ego here. No child in the corner crying about not being good enough. They know what we as adults have long forgotten: that they all have a right to create what they want, and whatever they make is true and good."
Have you forgotten that what you create is true and good? Have you forgotten that you are true and good? These forgettings often go hand in hand, you know. A lack of confidence in ourselves limits what we think we are capable of as surely as the ocean storm eats away at the shore.
What would happen if you set aside those doubts with intent and determination for only one hour? No more. And not an hour a day. Once, for just an hour -- maybe less.
What would happen if you sat still for ten minutes, eyes closed, and thought about what creativity looks like to you? What creativity looks like on and in and through you? Look for your emotional response -- what feelings do these questions bring up in you?
What would happen if you then considered what colors those feelings were? Black for hopelessness? Purple for grief? Yellow for hope?
What would happen if you also considered what shapes these feelings were? Squares? Circles? Scribbles?
What would happen if you took out a sheet of paper -- any kind at all -- and a box of crayons, and translated those feelings and colors and shapes to paper?
Now, what would happen if you enclosed that translation in a border of love and honor? What if you colored a bright, vibrant square, rectangle, circle of protection around your expressed feelings? A border of protection from your own self-judgement and doubt. A border of protection from what others might think or say. What would that look like? What would that feel like?
What would happen if you then took up a pen and wrote on the back of your piece about how you felt before the exercise, and how you feel now? What would happen if you went into the colors and shapes and feelings and wrote down what they are trying to say to you?
And what would happen if you never had to share this piece with another human being? It is yours. Only yours.
It is your heart, your gut. It is your creative act.
It is the first step on your journey to recover your creativity.
*****
I would love to hear about your "What Would Happen If..." exercise! Please feel free to take a moment to comment here about what happened to you -- what you experienced before, what you experienced during, and what you experienced after.
If you feel the need to share your work, your art, please visit my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BourdoVisualArts, and upload in your post.
I look forward to hearing from you!!
Peace,
Laura