A Creative Bone {Day 1}

I wrote something and just deleted the whole thing!  One of the downsides of being a creative person is the curse of perfectionism! (almost deleted this one, but thought better of it - good enough is okay!)

I've heard many people loudly proclaim that they don't have a creative bone in their body.  I don't believe them for a moment, more on that later.  I have a LOT of creative bones, probably too many!

Over the years I have tried a lot of creative pursuits.  My mom and dad are both very creative people and so are the rest of my ancestors, so I come by it pretty honestly.  My earliest creative memories are sitting near my mom's sewing machine sorting buttons or playing with her scraps.  My dad is kind of an inventive type and an amazing gardener, I love how his mind works.

I have a long list of things I've tried my hand at.  My faves:  anything with paper or fabric!  I dabble in knitting and a few other pursuits here and there but I've limited myself mostly to paper and fabric.  I LOVE to decorate though you might not be able to tell that by my house - we have to take the destructive capacity of our children into account.  One day my house might reflect me better, but we do what we can with what we have.

I also love the arts; music, dance, art, drama, writing, photography, all of that.  I've written songs, stories, plays, directed, acted, danced (only got to do that as an adult, I am Mennonite after all) dabbled in painting, drawing and all that.  I love to create beauty.  I love to look at pretty things.

I'm a bit of an introvert, extroverted on stage!  However, when I have gotten peopled out I go to my craft area and take part in fabric therapy.  To design something, to play with fabric and have it come together under my hands is incredibly gratifying, a moment in the river with God when you feel like maybe you were made for this - sorry, I'm not sure I have words for that feeling.  It's the same feeling I get when a decorating project comes together or I write something that even moves me and I marvel that it came out of me.

I am convinced that beauty is a necessary part of our lives.  I read somewhere that beauty comes to fill the trenches that pain has left behind.  Beauty is so healing.  Think how refreshing it is to just sit and watch birds fly or the wind in a field of wheat.  It has a music that is all its own.  If you haven't seen the movie "August Rush" go do so, I recommend it, it reveals something of the heart of music, "God's reminder that there is something out there much bigger than us."

That's my nutshell version of my creative history, Mondays we will talk about more of that kind of thing.  I might even take some pictures of my crafting space.

At this exact moment my husband is jamming with Steve Bell and a few other really talented muscians...just having fun.  It's a great atmosphere to be writing in!

This morning Steve was talking to our provincial pastor's retreat and he got into talking about the Trinity and creativity and love and it was mind boggling to think about all of it.  I'm going to try and lay down some of it here for you so you can chew on it a little.

Here's the thought for you to ruminate on courtesy of Steve Bell:

"What if God was so satiated in love, so full of it that he just couldn't contain himself anymore and so it burst out of him in the song of creation."

You are part of that creation, you are part of His song, loaded with the DNA of the creator.  Your creativity may not look like mine, it might come out in a garden or a field, it may come out in your love for mathematics or science or researching the music of the spheres.  He, the God who sung the universe into existence, created you...every single bone in your body is rich with creativity.

Revel in that today!

facebook:  Lani Fast Wiens
Twitter: @flowerlady77