To practice any ART, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your SOUL GROW. Do it. - Kurt Vonnegut
“One finished project is better than one thousand great ideas.” Awhile back I read this somewhere and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I am the one who has a new idea every other minute, and I must say that when one of those ideas actually takes shape it is an incredible thing.
Jen, my wife, always shares her story and how she did not think she was creative. She always said that I was the creative one, because I had all the ideas. I was the dreamer, but just because I dream and have more ideas than my wife can handle, does not mean that I am exercising my creativity. A creator creates. We all must work and grow in our creativity. To not exercise our God given characteristic is nothing but a waste, and exercising means finishing.
Yes, this could look different for every person. For me it is song writing and interior design. Both came for me out of a practical place. I started playing guitar and singing songs as a way to connect with God. I started remodeling houses, because I needed to provide a place for my family to live, and we could only afford old run down houses. Both have become passions and creative outlets for me. For Jen it started in the kitchen serving family and friends with great meals. Then with writing updates to family and friends on her blog, which in turn led to wanting to take better photos for the blog, and many of you know where it has taken her, to India exercising her passion for photography while serving the poor.
A couple years back I met an incredible man with a crazy story. He grew up in Europe and spent 20 or so years homeless in America with a severe drug addiction. Now drug free he serves the poor in Africa. He and his wife came and stayed with us in Africa for about a month. Every day he would play his guitar. He was good. One day I sat down with him as he played. We just chatted about guitar stuff and how long he had been playing. Then he began to tell me a bit of his story. He plays everyday and usually plays a new tune each day. He said that the creative process of playing daily for his Creator has been key for him staying drug free for the last 20 years. Wow.
I believe that living creatively enables us to live to the fullest, but we must do it. We must finish it. Then we will grow.
