Stillness 6-30:
Creativity is not about finishing something but about making something. When we were children, it didn’t occur to us to critique what we made. We splashed color around. We were entranced by the sparkle on a humble pebble. We didn’t judge the quality of our paintings or mud pies. I remember the pride and joy I felt in learning how to finger-knit, not how the item looked when it was over. And experimenting with delicious ingredients like fresh, creamy butter and gleaming white sugar was the amazing part of cooking, not the finished baked cookies.
We are creative beings and we like to make things. We need to create. Our gardens don’t have to look like a photograph in a magazine to give us pleasure. (This year, mine looks more like a small field of wildflowers.) In winter I knit in the evenings, especially when we’re watching a show or movie, because it takes my eyes off the screen. But I rarely end up with a finished product—more often than not I undo what I made and begin again. As long as I love the color and feel of the wool, then the finished product is not why I knit—it’s the act of knitting that I enjoy. If you want to paint, try using watercolors. Start by using only blue and yellow for a while, then maybe add some red. See what happens. And keep in mind that being still can be particularly creative. There’s no finished product to be proud of—it’s the activity itself that can be so satisfying.
Creativity is not about judging what you’ve made or seeing how it turns out. That’s a different activity entirely. Creativity is about doing it. Way too many times I hear people saying, “I tried that, but it wasn’t any good.” Or, worse, they say “I’m no good.” But that’s not the point. Do you enjoy it? Even if no one is around to hear, do you sing in the shower? Do you feel your throat relaxing, your lungs expanding, the notes resounding, making you smile? Creativity lifts our spirits like nothing else in the world.
So, today, try being purposely creative. Have fun making something. Maybe it’s something you used to love to do—like writing a poem. Or maybe it’s something new, like working with stained glass. Don’t feel satisfied by finishing it but by creating it. Being creative is always good.