For those who read the blog regularly, you know that I love music. Did you ever think of where the song you like came from? Do you have songs that you have been listening to for years?
I’m guessing that whether the songs are ones you like or ones I like, most of them did not exist 50 years ago. Some may not have existed one year ago. Someone had to write the song. Someone had to start with an idea.
We associate creativity, at its most general level, to artists, songwriters, and poets. There are a thousand books on becoming more creative. I find it amusing that we are, for the most part, insecure with respect to our false impression that we cannot create like “they” can.
Our present unfolds as we make choices about our future. We create our lives every day but I find that few believe this. Our experiences are different, the way we think and approach situations are different so every time we do something, buy something, complete something, throw out something or help someone out we are creating our future by our choices today.
Comparing ourselves to artists and musicians is counterproductive to living a meaningful life. We feel that something special must inspire us to be creative. We feel that creativity is something that is not within us. That you either have it or don’t. All of this is so untrue.
No other person can live our life. Only we can. And everyday we wake up, new things enter our lives and new choices need to be made. Conversations, relationships, and friendships add different things at different times as well to our lives. We are creating our life every day when we are awake. Every choice, decision, and effort throughout the day is helping to create our tomorrow.
If we are guilty of anything, it is our belief that since we don’t feel creative then our lives are lived on auto-pilot. This too is a poor choice of words, because in life there are no auto-pilots. When your life is on auto-pilot you are only drifting aimlessly – letting time pass without much to show for it.
Things don’t come easy. Time needs to help us get to where we want to go. Always remember that the song you are listening to right now, didn’t exist “before” until someone chose to write and sing it.
Exploring the creativity of one is as simple as making your next choice today. That is how my parents’ generation lived their lives. They never spoke about out of the box thinking or wanting to be creative. They understood the power of the creativity of one that was a daily part of their lives. They never spoke of wanting to be creative. Yet my father was born in Greece, came to America as a teenager, and ended up starting and owning his own successful business without a great deal of formal education.
Each one of us can do as well. Remember where you would like to get to and continue on your life’s journey — with intention and faith that you will get “there” always remembering to use the creative power of one that is inside each of us.