What’s holding you back from being creative? Maybe you’ve got a book idea or you’ve always wanted to be a part of community theater. Really, what’s stopping you?Ever since I was in the second grade, I’ve wanted to be a writer. When the Challenger shuttle exploded in 1986, I was seven years old. I still remember the speech that then President Ronald Reagan gave to the nation afterwards. Using a quote from poet and pilot John Gillespie Magee, Jr., he said of the fallen astronauts, “We shall never forget them nor the last time we saw them, as they prepared for their mission and waved good-bye and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God.” Like it was yesterday, I remember how the words affected me and how, even as a child, I knew that I wanted to use words that way… to evoke emotion and feeling. I wanted to be a writer.Of course, when choosing a career in the creative, one is immediately met with resistance. Well-meaning people want you to choose something stable and practical. There’s so much fear surrounding it. They wonder if you could ever write a book. Do you think that will pay the bills? And even if it’s massively successful, you will probably never be able to top it. I think all those concerns boil down to one thing that people really want to know: “What if you try and fail?”… as if that’s the biggest devastation that a person could ever face. Don’t believe the old movie quote that says failure is not an option. Failure is always an option when you’re being creative. That’s what creativity is. It’s risk. It’s stretching your imagination beyond the boundaries of everyday living into the unknown. Sometimes it catches on. Sometimes it doesn’t, but I think it’s more important to try. Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert gave this great lecture on creativity that I want to share. I hope it inspires you to pursue those creative dreams. You never know where they might lead if you’re willing to try.Read More:Elizabeth Gilbert on Beliefnet10 Prescriptions for Living a Creative Life10 Ways to Unleash Your Creativity
Beliefnet
Advertisement
posted March 14, 2011 at 4:07 pm
Creating, for me, is like Breathing! When I go too long without creating, I yearn for it, like a fish searching for water, if I do not partake of creativity soon, I feel like I can’t breath….creating makes me feel at one with God!
I feel His touch when I am creating, I feel His passion for mankind, when I am writing poetry or when I am creating items for my event business…I know people tend to think of “being about my Father’s business” as only having to do with teaching the scriptures, but I truly believe that when I use what God well equipped me with, to glorify Him,I truly AM, being about, “My Father’s Business!
posted March 14, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Ole to Elizabeth! As an artist I feel uncomfortable when the term genius is used around me. I do love Elizabeth’s context of genius. I too show up everyday and do the work. There are those who are gifted and talented. There are those who are hard workers who also pay their dues. If those who were gifted and talented applied some effort and hard work behind along with their genius or spirit guide it the world would be a marvelous place.
posted March 14, 2011 at 6:49 pm
I tried being creative, I was studying for a GED test and the instructor told us to write a story, he looked at mine and said well looky here: “this student has just painted a little picture here in this story. I thought I had talent and took all kindes of creative writing courses at my next stop,community College. I thought you just sate down and wrote the thing and that was that, but no, I had to revise and rewrite over and over again, and I hated reading it over and over, finelly I just chucked it.
posted March 14, 2011 at 7:34 pm
Yes, yes, it’s true ! We do have a muse, any one of us I do believe, which attends us, and so it behooves us to listen to it when we can. And so we can;t consider ourselves geniuses, because of it. For there
was never meant to be great competition going on between any of us. We are created equal, right? Surely, there is a most generous, gracious and loving God who wants us to love this life she has given us to enjoy . Inspiration is always a spirited and incredible potential, awaiting our acceptance of it and using it.
posted March 14, 2011 at 8:15 pm
No comments!
posted March 16, 2011 at 1:19 pm
There is no point to start a creative without any caption or no subtitle. No good education without any subtitle!
posted March 17, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Being creative is all about having a successful career!