Creativity

Would you consider yourself a creative person?

There are people whom everyone says, “Oh, she’s soooo creative.” They are the kind of people who can elevate any item to a work of art. Folks who can plop down the grocery bags in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Or people who go about life, truly thinking “outside the box”. No matter the situation, these folks are guaranteed to have thought of a different way to achieve an outcome.

Many years ago, a talented and creative friend designed elaborate birthday parties for her children. She even had a Cinderella-themed birthday (sans any premade Disney items) complete with a mini-van make-over to resemble the royal carriage.

While I would say I am somewhat creative, my talent lies more in taking what I have and making the best of it- either reusing or repurposing it. Although I think one can train oneself to have an artistic eye. The more one looks at something beautiful (bearing in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder), the more one is attune to seeing and responding to the world with creativity.

When I was a kid, I had a “craft box” containing all sorts of arts and crafts: colored pencils, paints, pastels; clay; bits and bobs of string, ribbon and small fabric; glitter; glue; small shells and pebbles. I had the items all arranged in small cigar boxes that fit just so into a larger cardboard storage file box with a hinged lid. To accompany that, I had an old wicker beach bag that contained sketch note books and small canvases. Every summer I would pack it along as we went on summer holiday. My intention was to do some artistic endeavor. (I had visions of being an “artiste”!) Some years I was productive. Other years, not so much. Regardless, I had to have it with me. My brother would get so frustrated with me. “Are you bringing that d*** box again this year?” (Never understood why it bothered him so much, he brought his guitar.) In fact, I had the box up until our boys were young and then I incorporated my craft items with theirs. Now that they are out of the house, I have upgraded to a craft cabinet.

Oil on Canvas. National Gallery of Art, Collection of Mr and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, 1998.74.5 Photo credit: ©National Gallery of Art.

I found an interesting article extolling the virtues of creativity- that creativity is bidirectional with well-being: a person’s well-being was found to promote creativity and creativity is conducive to well-being. Basically, when one is happy and content and feels good, one is in a better position to be creative. Being creative produces feelings of being happy and content.* In some ways, there goes the theory of the miserable and suffering artist.

I’ve been attending a virtual lecture series offered by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It is an in-depth look at Vincent Van Gogh and his portraitures- namely the Roulin family. The Roulin’s (Papa, Mamman, two sons and baby daughter) all sat and were painted by Van Gogh. The time spent with the Roulin’s was during the last years of his life. One of the MFA lectures, the discussion was about Van Gogh’s mental status, physical ailments and his genius. There is lot of speculations about his mental and physical illness (es). One of the comments from the expert was that in looking at VanGogh’s final paintings and comparing the same subjects from earlier works, he does not seem to be painting under mental stress. For him, painting was his saving grace. It made him happy.

I know I shared this before, but I am a big believer that all of us have creativity. Some, maybe more than others but nonetheless, we all are creative beings. Madeleine L’Engle used to say that when we create, we become co-creators with God. I think that is true. God is Creator. We are formed in His image- containing attributes of His. Therefore, we all have a creative side. When we create, we become part of the Divine.

Children create. For them creativity is playing. It helps them figure out the world- drawing a picture of their family, home, pets, what they are experiencing or something from their imaginations. Children sing. They make up tunes and words. Children tell and even act out stories. They write poems or recite nonsense verse. All of their “creation” is beautiful in their own way. Unfortunately, many children have had their creativity stifled by a (well-meaning) parent or teacher who criticized the endeavor for not being stylistically accurate.

As adults, we have the opportunity to be creative, not only in the traditional fine arts but also in the way we live our lives. Some people are creative in the way they garden, arrange flowers, style their clothes or decorate their home. Others in the way they arrange a contract, fill out an excel spread sheet, care for their car, hammer a nail, photo their children, lay a table and present a meal or creatively come up with a solution to a problem.

What about you? What is/was your experience with any creative endeavor(s)? Did you ever have an adult '“criticize” your work as a child? How can you lay that aside and challenge yourself to try again?

The New York Times has a fun little creativity challenge this week: every day do some type of creative activity. Monday- draw doodles. Tuesday- write a poem. Wednesday- daydream. Thursday- do 10% more. Friday- try one new thing. The idea is to help one get unstuck and use some divergent and alternative thinking.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/well/creativity-poetry-writing-prompt.html?smid=url-share&rsrc=deeplink.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/well/creativity-drawing-art.html

Why not try it? I am. After all, we are approaching summer- the time when I need to get out the “craft” box. There is something about summer and the opportunity to try something new. Maybe I will get creative this year.

* https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8305859/

Connection and Community- Part 1

Have you ever noticed that when you might be thinking of certain themes/things, you then will see and hear that theme in all aspects of your life? I have heard people say that happens to them when they buy a new car- all of a sudden they see that exact car wherever they go.

Lately, it seems as if I am hearing about community every where I turn. Even in the ads at my local bank. No wonder the show “Cheers” was so popular. The place where “everyone knows your name”. People seem to long for community recognition yet we act in individual anonymity.

As a society, we are globalized. No other time in history is like now when the majority of the planet can know and connect with other parts of the world, yet we are also more isolated than ever before. We do not have to interact with anyone for anything- not even for acquiring basic goods and services. And if we choose to connect with others, those connections can take place in solo private settings. We have lost the shared experience of community.

I thought over the next couple of blog posts we can explore the idea of community and connection. I am treating the two together because you cannot have a community without connection to one another. What else is the purpose of human connection but to form some type of community? (recognizing that not all connection is necessarily deep).

So, what does community mean? Do we need it? What are the ramifications? Does our technology help or hinder? What can we do about it? How do we build connection with one another?

For most of my life I have felt that my nose was pressed against the window pane in observation of a gathering of others. No feeling of great connection or community. Oh sure. I have had my “group” - family, childhood friends, workplace colleagues, etc. But I have never felt that sense of deep connection that “these are my people and they get me.”

Not that it is a bad thing. For the most part, I am satisfied with my life and personality. I lean more towards being an introvert than extrovert. As much as I enjoy learning about people and their stories, I am basically shy and don’t want to impose my presence on anyone. I have to force myself out into community. I could go (and have gone) days without speaking to anyone and then when I do, my voice fails as well as my thoughts. I end up sounding like a babbling idiot. Use it or lose it.

Community used to mean one’s physical location: one’s “place” in the world. While that still is true, the word seems now to connote more of one’s identity: “A body of people or things viewed collectively,” (Oxford English Dictionary)

Author, Bill Bishop states, “It used to be that people were born as part of a community, and had to find their place as individuals. Now people are born as individuals, and have to find their community.”

I think that shift is what is causing some issues with our sense of community and connection. If each one of us, as a solo person have to find our community, we are picking and choosing what we want to be. That very choice can become exclusionary- some people will be in and some out. Even our sense of togetherness has a binary, all or nothing quality and can create anxiety and feelings of loneliness.

On a recent podcast of Hidden Brain, they explored the problem of American masculinity and how that creates a lonely man. While the explanation is specific to men, I think that there is a general observation that applies to all people- we all need some type of connection and community.

One of the things noted was the importance of community for a person’s health and wellbeing. They reported on a longitudinal social study that began over eighty years ago looking at the students at an elite university and if there were any predictions for personal success (They funders of the research wanted to find a way to predict good management professionals). Over the years, the focus and goals of the study changed and new discoveries were made yet the study was always concerned with the connection between emotional well-being and personality characteristics. One question they always asked, “Who would you call in the middle of the night if you were sick or afraid?”

According to the study, “We found that people who had warmer, closer connections lived longer, developed the diseases of middle age, those chronic diseases, less soon and had better health longer on average than people who didn't have warm, close relationships.”

Why connection? It is good for your health.

Why community? I think that there is something true about the independent streak that runs in all of us. I think that our current set-up for society has exploited that nature and whether intentionally or not has encouraged us to be solo . Look our for yourself because no one else will. You don’t need to be with others, you can get by with all that you need without them. Getting to know others can set yourself up to pain. Don’t be vulnerable. Hide behind the mask.

And so in the words of Henry David Thoreau, “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

This is not how we were designed to live. Everything in the Bible and in its story is about relationships: relationships among God and his people- both as an individual with God but also as individuals living in community with others.

The Hebrew wiseman reminds us, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will life up his fellow…a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12.

In Jesus’ last days on earth, He prays for the people surrounding Him and those who are yet to come. He prays that they will be unified and connected, that they would be one. You cannot be “one” without connection. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father are in me, and I in you that they also may be in us, so that world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17: 20.

What about you? What are your feelings of community and connection?

Stay tuned for next week as we explore connection and community (part 2) through technology.