Are You Abusing Your Creativity?

Think of creativity as a small child. Are you feeding your creativity daily? Letting it play daily? Do you challenge your creativity to help it grow? Do you let your creativity pee into a tiny child’s plastic toilet on a long road trip, risking random pee spray that will forever change that great car scent, in the back of your BMW whilst parked on the side of a major highway at 3 in the morning? Whoops, that one was actually my child, not my inner creativity. Either way, you get the point. There is a really good chance that we don’t take care of our creativity like we do our children. Dare I say, some of us may even take our creativity for granted.

Creativity is a gift from God. One of my favorite quotes, who’s author eludes me, goes something like this “Man (or woman) is closest to God when he (or she) is creating something.” Here is a sobering thought, what if you don’t use your God given gift of creativity and it’s given to someone else? Think of that for a moment. If you have kids then you know exactly what I mean… Every now and then you’ve got to covertly “clean” the play area and hide some of the old toys that they don’t play with… Just to see if they notice. If they don’t notice then you know it’s time to give them away. I do the same thing with my wife’s stuff that she crams in the attic and basement. I AM KIDDING! But in all seriousness, who’s to say that creativity won’t leave you if you’re not using it?

Proverbs 18:9 says that “one who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.” I’m no theologian, but why do you think not working and destroying are synonymous here? Could it be like I suggested above? If we aren’t using our creativity we are losing it… Whether that means it’s being destroyed or moving on to the next person is of no great importance. What is important is that creativity is like a muscle, it may atrophy if you don’t regularly exercise it.

After reading this article I’d like to illicit two reactions in you. First, I’d like for you to grab onto your creativity and give it a hug as if it were a child you have not seen in years. I’d like you to do all those things you promised your child you’d do but never seemed to have time to do. Second, I’d like for you to have a reverence for the creative gifts that God has given you because we don’t deserve them! They are gifts. Treat them as a blessing and utilize them otherwise kiss them goodbye and don’t plan on moping around because you’ve lost your creative edge, it’s your own fault for neglecting the creative child within you.

Surely this article will be received in one of two ways. Some of you may say, wow, that guy is harsh and this wasn’t helpful. That’s okay, this article wasn’t for you, Delicate Flower. This article is for the creative types who may be feeling a little less than creative at this juncture in their lives and need a swift kick in the butt to remind them that we have a responsibility to create, otherwise we are wasting our God given gift.

Conclusion

Creativity can be writing in a journal, picking up a camera, drawing, painting, or simply stacking some blocks with your 3 year old. The point is, you’re creating something from nothing and enjoying it. Flex your creative muscles daily and push yourself to respect what God has given you. I bet you’ll find that the more creative you get the more creativity you get.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below and follow me on the gram if you you’d like to stay current on my personal photography/projects @PhotolisticLife.