Today friends and that is centered around the theme and element of creativity.
So buckle in,
I'm excited to have you here with me and let's get started.
Good morning,
Good afternoon,
Good evening,
Whenever you are viewing or listening to this conversation.
I am grateful you are here.
Thanks for coming back friends.
Today is going to be a little bit of a lighter one but there are some heavy elements here when we think about and reflect upon the idea of creativity,
Right?
We usually hear it in more of a lighter tone conversation.
We think that our creativity or being creative really just brings out some of the best parts of us.
We get to bear witness to some amazing creation but it is not without also the existence of some heaviness,
Some refinement.
So we will dive into both elements of those.
I hope you all are doing well as we are coming up on,
Maybe by the time you're listening to this,
It will be within the Christmas week.
So if you are in a place in the world where you are celebrating the holiday,
I wish you and yours well and we will start off with an amazing quote,
The one and only Robin Williams.
You're only given a little spark of madness.
You mustn't lose it.
We will talk a little bit more specifically about that quote here in just a little bit.
Let's get into the morning devotion and then we will have a conversation about it and elaborate a little bit more.
So we will go into the intention statement for the morning devotion and then right into the morning devotion.
To inspire creativity in the day ahead no matter what activity I'm about to undertake.
My life is a work of art in progress.
I hold the pen.
I tell the story.
I paint the image.
I sculpt the time.
The present moment is my raw material,
My canvas,
My blank page.
I have been given these gifts by the great Creator who breathes through me.
Every instant is eternity manifested,
My creation.
Some powerful words right there.
What do you feel when you hear those affirming statements in such a creative way?
I hold the pen.
I sculpt the time.
When I think about the imagery that comes to mind when I read those simple statements,
These statements that maybe at most have four or five words to them,
They provide such a vivid colorful image of the power that that holds.
The power that statement and that reality holds for my life and for probably many others.
And I'm curious to know what sensations came over you when you hear that morning devotion.
What spark does it ignite for you?
Or perhaps are there a lot of those statements that seem very far away and distant and it is hard for you to see anything vivid right now?
All of it is relevant and valid depending on where our mindset is,
Depending on where we are in life,
And what we want to put out into the universe as far as our creative nature.
Coming back to the basics though,
Before we get too far along in the reflection part of the conversation,
The question we all should start with would be what is creativity and how does it show up for me in my life?
What is my creativity?
Is it something that we use ourselves as the catalyst and create something?
Are we the vehicle for creation?
Or is our creativity in the form of uplifting and inspiring and being an educator and then funneling that and delegating that to other creatives?
Examples of these could be directors,
Choreographers,
The ones who maybe aren't body of work that is being visually seen,
But it's more behind the scenes,
Right?
Every single person has an integral role in creativity.
Take a sculptor for instance,
Since it was one of the examples or words used in our devotion.
A sculptor,
Not all the time,
Some do use themselves as the actual medium,
But a sculptor is one that uses their hands,
Molds a medium,
Which would in most cases be a form of clay,
And then creates the artwork for the world to see.
Anyone who goes into a museum then sees that piece of creative work and they're not there looking at the sculptor.
Perhaps semantically they are if they are going that in-depth with it,
But the sculptor then once his or her hands were done using that creativity through their body,
They then allow their art and their creation to stand on its own and be viewed by the world.
That is what the collective whole of the community sees when they go and view a painting.
So when we shift our mindset to think about creativity,
How it applies to our own lives,
This helps us not to limit or restrict our ideals or beliefs of,
Well this is the only way that I can be creative,
Right?
If you were not born with the ability to draw Mickey Mouse good enough for Disney to represent you,
Then have no fear.
Creativity is meant to have this freedom of expression and the vehicle or catalyst for how to get to where that art can be seen or felt or consumed is abundant.
It is so much more than we often allow our minds to be.
We think about the ability within ourselves and when we do that we only think about okay well what can my body produce?
Well what about your voice?
Is your voice creative?
Can your voice spark inspiration in others?
Then great,
Go out there,
Start getting educated,
Take some community classes,
Take some free classes,
Learn how to shoot a film,
Learn how to be a creative leader,
Learn how to communicate to the masses and then therefore you're instilling seeds of learning in others and then that is your contribution through creativity.
It is not solely what our hands can do,
It is not solely what our feet can do.
If we aren't a ballerina that doesn't mean that we can't create magnificent works of art comparable to Balanchine.
Keep that in mind dear friends and remember that creativity often is so much more than what our minds allow us to imagine and on that note we will transition into the intention statement for the evening devotion and then into the evening devotion intention to rest in the knowledge that my day my life is a creation and each moment even in my dreams offers the opportunity to work as a creator slip away now to the deep world of shadow where colors bend and music flutters upon your heart like the wings of a hummingbird I hear the trees and smell the clouds in my abstract myth every breath has sprung from my imagination the Sun will rise and I will open again painting a new day with beautiful words that is a beautiful evening devotion it sort of ties the bow and wraps up our reflection conversation on the morning devotion and the idea of how any part of us can be a vehicle for creativity and that is an amazing thing that should encourage us bring us a sense of peace in a way that maybe it uplifts us and helps us to not be as discouraged but to keep the realism in here to remind us that having self-doubt facing uncertainty having fear creep up in us that is all going to be normal and common and valid and it will happen this exploration of creativity again it's not without its fears its ups and downs bearing witness to mistakes and learning and wisdom and all the things simply put creativity is vulnerability because no matter what medium you choose or no matter what path you go down if you allow yourself to be authentically creative that is exposing a piece of you to the world there will never be a work of art or a piece of the creative process that doesn't have you in it and then that piece of you that's in it is on display for the world to judge to criticize whether good or bad feedback it will always be vulnerable no matter if you have 20 plus years behind your belt or you're just starting out in your first year there is a sense of vulnerability and that in and of itself is scary but I hope one of these devotions and even maybe one of the four to five word sentences resonated in you somewhere and somehow thank you friends around the world for being here for listening there's always a pleasure and I'm always grateful to spend this time with you so thank you for showing up for yourself for your creativity and we will connect again soon and until then breathe easy friends
