Your Creative Spark

We are all creative, in one way or another.  You may not think of yourself as an artist, but perhaps you like to cook, love gardening or tinkering with cars.  Maybe you’ve always been a doodler or love knowing how things fit together.  Each of us has the ability and desire to create something of our own as a reflection of our own uniqueness in the world.

So why are some people able to let this aspect of their personality shine while others cannot access their creative spark?  There may be many answers to this question, but in this fast-paced, information-laden society of ours, there is little time to simply be and allow our minds to wander.  Day-dreaming is a lost state of being and is often a preamble to creativity.  Our minds and souls, for that matter, need unstructured time to wander, do loop-de-loops and make free associations.  We need time to play, experiment, see what gives us joy.  How many of us learned a hobby or art from our grandparents, who had interests of their own and time to spend with us?  My grandmother sewed beautiful embroidery, and I learned needlepoint by the age of 10. 

Perhaps you were one of those people in touch with some interest or artistic bent at an earlier age, but gave it up because you now don’t have the time. Our natural inclinations are often what give us our greatest joy. On the other hand, you may feel you don’t have a creative bone in your body.  That’s okay.  Just by giving yourself this time you may get in touch with something that has lain dormant. With all the responsibilities and “have-to’s” in our lives, it’s important to keep those interests alive and woven through our days and weeks. It may seem strange that many people actually “schedule” this time for themselves in their calendars, but doing so gives them the space and often the permission to let go.

I know if I go too long without some “down time” I become stressed and irritable.  I don’t sleep as well and wake in the middle of the night making lists of things I have to do.  I am clearly overscheduled.  For a week or two, a relatively short period of time, this is manageable, but if it goes beyond that, I know I need to change something.  Ironically, the Universe is often right there; appointments are cancelled or rescheduled and I am given that much-needed breathing room.

Space.  Time.  It can feel so elusive and yet our souls need it. Unstructured and without agenda, time to nourish that part of us that is deep and timeless.  This is the part of ourselves we need to acknowledge if we are to be content and balanced in our lives and in this world.