Creativity

I love the Internet.  I was looking at the blog of my watercolor teacher and she had a list of people’s blogs she follows and I went to one of them.  This artist must be Latter-Day Saint since she quoted from President Dieter F. Uchtdof giving a speech to women on Happiness.

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.

Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children.

You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop." If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe.

But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fullness of joy.  Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things.

You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us.  The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.

What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.

If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it."

I really like the whole speech, however, this part on being creative and the joy it brings to us is my favorite part.  There are so many creative people in the world, that it is easy to downgrade our abilities.  I know so many people especially women who downgrade their gifts.  I guess I have grown old enough to be willing to try and maybe fail.  That’s why I am trying to learn to draw and paint watercolors.

I remember one of my college roommates talking about her mother…a woman who was a loving, giving person ….but a woman who would never be a CEO of a company.  She was the type of woman who was always there with the warm loaf of bread for the new family on the block.  Then my roommate would quote from scripture:  “out of small things comes what is great.”  (This was my wonderful roommate Mija who was talking of her mother.)  Mija and her mother have great gifts.

I am still trying to work on drawing.  I have found I like drawing flowers and plants better than items like shoes or chairs.  The flowers look more like flowers than the man made items. Preparing for my watercolor classes in March.  I am excited about learning something new.