The Art of Creating

This morning, I woke up, and I made some eggs. Then, at work, I created some ad designs for an upcoming event, and then later on in the evening, I made a fire. It was a day of making things and creativity, and it isn't until I go a while without one of these days that I realize how important the creative process is to me and my day to day life.

There's something to be said for creating something. It becomes your own- your masterpiece (even if it doesn't look like one, kinda like my eggs this morning). You can create anything from food to art; whatever it may be, it's still part of the creative realm, and that in itself is just cool. You don't have to be Bobby Flay or Vincent Van Gogh to be a creator or an artist. You can be anyone. 

Being creative is about making something that's yours that everyone else may or may not understand. No one else may like it, and no one else may find any point behind it, but with creation, that isn't always the point. The point of creating is about making something that was once an idea or a thought and making it a reality. It's bits and pieces of yourself and your mind coming out in various forms to create your simplest or your wildest dreams. It can be a process as short and sweet as mixing up random ingredients to create a new food dish, or something as complex as writing a symphony. 

Creativity has no bounds, and it has no simplicity; it's something as easy and unique that a 3-year-old can do it, and it's something so complex that the world's greatest scholars can do it (and sometimes, the 3-year-olds' creativity prevail). Therefore, create. Make a salad, write in a journal or go take a photo on your phone. The possibilities are endless, and you'll have something of your own to be proud of in the end. As we are God's creation, He gave us the ability to create. It just makes sense. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: We create because He created.  

Feeling Uninspired?

​"What should I write about?" - Me

"You could write about . . . *silence*" - Nick

"I haven't read my Bible in three days, and I feel so uninspired." - Me

"I think that's worth noting." - Nick

*Ding*

The less inspired I am, the more uninspired I feel.

It's interesting though, what inspires people. I suppose it's different for everyone.

As me for, I've spent the last three days in beautiful, New Zealand. Honestly, I thought that would be inspiration enough. Spending each day surrounded by some of the world's most spectacular beauty in the form of mountains, lakes, waterfalls and oceans seems like it would do the inspirational trick; however, here I sit uninspired to write something for only the second or third time on this journey of 100 blogs in 100 days.

I always thought nature inspired me, and I guess it does to an extreme extent. I thought sitting by lakes, hiking up mountains chasing waterfalls were all that i needed for real inspiration. These things are lifegiving, but, as of now, seem to have run out of steam on the inspirational train. The truth is, I'm missing out on the inspiration that drives my whole thought process.

I want to piggy back on the post that my friend, Bryce, wrote a couple of days ago about creativity. He wrote about how the Creator ultimately left one of His special marks on us, and that mark is creativity. Yes, just as creation (mountain, valleys and bodies of water) was inspired and created by Him, so were we, and in turn, we are inspired to create by those things, but ultimately we are inspired by Him and His Word. To create and be inspired, we must be in touch with our Creator and be inspired by Him.

For me, that's by spending time reading from His literal Words to us. What's more inspirational than the Word of a Supernatural, Triperson Diety and the Creator of the Universe? Not a lot, i can tell you that.

Dig Deep and find what inspires and sparks your creativity this week.

Create something.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Inspiration won't be found when you're not doing what inspires you.