Let the creative juices flow

I love this image. I stole it from this blog this evening and am convinced I'm going to print it to put up in my office. I will find a place. I love the color, the text and, most of all, the statement it makes. To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.

Here's something I know about me - and about you: there's a creative element to the way God made me.  Do you know how I know this? Because God is creative (hang out at the zoo and you'll see what I mean. I can't help but giggle when I see some of the critters he's made) and He has made you and I in his image. You could say that creativity is in our DNA. Some of us use it in different ways and at different levels but it's there nonetheless.

I like to write. I cook and bake and have decided that, really, nothing in a recipe is ever truly set in stone. Experiment. You just never know what you'll come up with. My camera and I are friends. I've taken up knitting (Yes, knitting. One day I'll share that story with you all). I love to dream big, making big plans, and I love it when a plan comes together. Making music makes me happy. I enjoy the great outdoors and appreciate God's creative work in it all. In the summer, you'll find me in my garden planting, pruning and designing my garden. I am most alive when I'm creating.

 

A shot I took this past week on a whim. Standing on a chair, twisting at odd angles and playing with light. Pleased with what happened. 

A culinary experiment. Homemade whole wheat pizza crust topped with red peppers, chicken, peas  basil pesto and sliced brie. I felt like Martha. Oh, and it tasted good. Even better.

All of those things, those avenues I choose, I have failed at. There's been pictures deleted, documents erased, dead plants and pots of soup that we did not eat. There were things that I've learned along the way because of those unsuccessful "tries." In the middle of that, though, there have been some gloriously freeing and satisfying creative moments. The kind where it just comes together and it works. I love the exhilaration of those moments and wonder if that isn't some of what God felt when he looked down on what he'd made each day and said "it was good."

Had I not been 'okay' with having some misses, I never would have had those moments and yet I wonder how much I've missed on other occasions because I've allowed the fear to come in. Fear of what others might think. Fear of failure. Fear of embarassement. Fear of wasted resources. Oh, and the list could go on, I'm sure. I wonder how much more productive I could be at work if I allowed my creative juices to truly flow and imagine the possibilities. I wonder how my life would be different if I let go of fear and allowed myself to truly dream about what God has in store and creatively imagine the possibilities. I wonder what else I would find myself smack in the middle of. I wonder.