We Are All Creative by Christine Thomas
“Could you write something on creativity” I was asked. No, I thought, I cannot – I am not creative so how can I possibly write on something I know nothing about and who would care anyway. Creativity – that’s something intangible and for “arty” types.
Then I really thought about it and came to the conclusion that to say that anyone is not creative is just incorrect. We are all creative – some more obviously so than others but everyone of us is creative. Whether it is an artist producing a wonderful painting, an architect designing a beautiful building or a gardener transforming a weed infested area into a haven for wildlife and people, a writer completing a novel or a musician playing or singing or a great rider in total harmony with their horse. These are but a few examples of what I had come to think of as creativity – very obvious, very clear. We may not always like or appreciate the results of the creativity but that takes nothing from its essence.
And then there are the ordinary people, of whom I count myself as one, we too are all creative. We may not produce such obvious and wondrous results as those whom we have come to think of as creative but we still create. We may use the written or spoken word to earn our living or our hands to build houses or fix cars; creating a pleasant and loving home in which to live is creative– there are many ways we create without giving creation as such a second thought – we take it for granted; it is how we pay the mortgage, buy the groceries. We dismiss our work as just work without ever seeing just how creative we all are. And how much more we could be if we had the right key. .
The more I thought about it the more I realised I was surrounded by creativity. Then I wondered where it came from and reached the decision that creativity comes from love. Love of life, for oneself for others, for animals for nature, for God, the list is endless.
Then what of all the negative creativity in the world, for there is
much of that – there is now and always has been . The opposite
of love is fear. Someone very wise once said to me that there are only
two emotions from which all others flow – love and fear. I believe
that is so. If we could turn all that fear and the consequential chaos
into love think of the boundless positive creativity there would be.
Sadly I thought, that of course will never happen – people and
nations will continue to war over whose god is right, whose land is
whose, whose colour, sexuality, culture is better. But what if just
maybe on an individual basis slowly, with increasing awareness, one
by hesitant one, we all used our ability to turn our fear and consequent
hatred into love and our negative chaos into positive creativity. What
then?