creativity

One of my very favorite blogs is Ann Voskamp’s A Holy Experience.  I love it mostly because I always learn something, am always encouraged, and am often challenged to see things in a different way.  Yesterday she shared a post about how to foster creativity, which was wonderful and comes highly recommended by yours truly.

I’ve always considered myself a creative person.  When I was a girl I was constantly creating cards or notes for my parents and one of my favorite activities was to cut pictures out of magazines, glue them onto paper and create my own magazine.  I’d write stories and advertisements and then staple all the papers together for my very own “publication.” 

One of my very favorite memories from childhood is of spending the night at a friend’s house when I was twelve years old.  We had recently experienced a death in our family and I was struggling with it.  I couldn’t sleep that night and so my friend and I sat up in the middle of the night and wrote songs based on verses in the book Psalms.  That act of creativity calmed me and helped me get through a difficult childhood experience.

Perhaps that’s why I fell in love with photography.  It taps into the creative side of my personality that can easily be shoved to the back burner in order to make room for all the responsibilities and duties that come with being a wife and mom and it also calms my heart and can many times encourage me when I’m feeling down about a particular circumstance.

I love creating, not only with my camera but in the editing process as well.  One of my favorite things to do is to take an ordinary picture and turn into a work of art.  I can’t explain the joy that brings me.  It’s just part of who I am.

But there can also be fear associated with creativity.  What if no one likes what I’ve created?  What if it’s not ‘good enough?’  What if someone criticizes my work?  These are all questions that play out in my mind when I’m feeling my most vulnerable.

Ann shared some thoughts on being creative in her post yesterday that encouraged me … maybe they’ll encourage you as well …

“Creativity, it’s good theology; it’s what God did in the beginning.”

“The essence of creativity is essentially risk, believing enough to leap into the yet unseen.  The theological term for this is faith.”

“When we stop fearing failure, we start being artists.”

“The only trees that ever grow tall keep relentlessly stretching into unknown territory.”

“Bury your fear in faith.  Otherwise you bury your talents.”