Your Creativity is an Act of Service - Lessons from My Mother
Photo credit Nick Fewings
“You can’t use up your creativity. The more you use the more you have.” -Maya Angelou
I spent the last week with an extraordinary feminine creatrix, my Mother. When you walk through her turquoise front door, you are greeted with the delightful scent of the fresh flowers on the hall table. Rich raspberry striped wallpaper and lit white candles envelop the dining room with a cozy feeling. Her table is set to welcome you with a mixture of her different china settings because “Why would you choose just one?”
A statue of a quirky bird named Otis and his snake friend Clyde stands in the corner. Paintings by her very own hand fill the walls, each transporting you into a unique and kaleidoscopic world. The rich and textured experience continues into her gardens which have been cultivated and cared for over the last 40 years. Creativity exudes from my mother's being, and she has dedicated herself to making a nurturing, kind, and beautiful world. It has been under her wing that I learned how to live a creative life.
We all have creative gifts that allow us to serve others and connect with the Divine. We ultimately surrender to the divine flow when we embody our creative parts. Our creativity is healing, and our creations become offerings to the people and places around us.
Creativity is something that we all have an infinite capacity for. Yet, many of us have forgotten to foster a relationship with our creative selves. As a result, many have left their creative selves in the elementary school art room. It's time we welcome this part of ourselves back to engage, honor, and rekindle our connection with creativity.
Creativity is a privilege, AND it is also a purpose. There are 7.8 billion people globally, and each one of us takes up space. We get to make the space that we take up extraordinary. My mother creates beautiful spaces and paintings. For others, creativity shows up in innovation, conscious business, conversation, currency, healing, and harvesting. Whatever your offerings are, we need the creators, the original thinkers, and the beauty makers to step forrward.
So, where does one start?
The Practice: Make it simple.
Generate curiosity, for one thing, circumstance, person, etc. where you feel stuck, disempowered, or unsatisfied. Choose to view it from a fresh perspective.
Get curious.
Ask the question, “What is this thing, circumstance, person, etc., a catalyst for?”
Use the inquiry to draw yourself into an out-of-the-box way of looking at the situation. Once you have taken a novel perspective, it is time to take action. Use what you have to make something better. My mom says, "make chicken salad out of chicken sh!t."
Your creative perspective and action are offerings. Your offerings are an integral part of healing the whole of this world. Today, do yourself and your loved ones a favor, take a moment to look at something from a creative perspective, get curious, and take some inspired action!
