I'm an excellent consumer. And I don't mean that in the wasteful, materialist, gluttonous sense. I mean, I can be wasteful, materialistic and gluttonous but that's not what I"m talking about. My favorite thing to consume is books. I read hours a day, fiction, history, current events, whatever I can get my hands on. I love the ideas and worlds. I eat them up mentally, as one would eat a fresh apple on a summer day.
I also love to consume on pinterest. What great ideas have people come up with? How do you stay motivated? What are tips for the perfect morning? I rarely put any of these things into action, but it's definitly my second favorite form of consumption.
I'm great at consumption, but always just figured I wasn't a "creative" person. And in the most common sense of the word I'm just plain not. I can't draw or compose music. I can't cook without a recipe really or play a musical instrument with any sort of style or grace. I get excited about ideas but have trouble implementing them. I used to think I just wasn't born to "create."
I think now though that consumption and creation are a different side of the same coin. If you fill a balloon with water, it will eventually burst from fullness. If you squeeze that same balloon, eventually all the water will be gone and you're left with nothing, no matter how hard you squeeze. I don't think it's possible for anyone to only consume or for anyone to only create, even me.
I mentioned above that I can't really cook without a recipe. That's true, it's rare for me. But cooking without a recipe is only one way to define creation. I can cook. I can bake. I can start with 10 separate ingredients and make something completely different. I can have flour and cocoa and sugar and eggs and baking powder in front of me and an hour later I can give you a cake. I created something.
I took piano lessons for 3 years and I was bad at it and I didn't enjoy it. Now I wish I could play. There's a piano in the lobby of my office, and a few times a day when no one is around I sneak over to it and softly practice "For the Beauty of the Earth." It's painfully slow work for such a simple piece. But I can play most of it. Where there was silence, I created music.
So if we look at the word "creative" as being able to make something out of nothing, no one is truly creative. The only true creator is God, the only being to really create something out of nothing. And humanity bears the image of God, and in return we create in our small ways. I don't have to be upset that I'm not a creative person, because it's not possible not to create. We just don't do it from ex nihlio as our creator did. In a way, my lopsided strawberry cake and my awkward, pained playing are whispers of the creator.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
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Tuesday, September 22, 2015
To create
I'm an excellent consumer. And I don't mean that in the wasteful, materialist, gluttonous sense. I mean, I can be wasteful, materialistic and gluttonous but that's not what I"m talking about. My favorite thing to consume is books. I read hours a day, fiction, history, current events, whatever I can get my hands on. I love the ideas and worlds. I eat them up mentally, as one would eat a fresh apple on a summer day.
I also love to consume on pinterest. What great ideas have people come up with? How do you stay motivated? What are tips for the perfect morning? I rarely put any of these things into action, but it's definitly my second favorite form of consumption.
I'm great at consumption, but always just figured I wasn't a "creative" person. And in the most common sense of the word I'm just plain not. I can't draw or compose music. I can't cook without a recipe really or play a musical instrument with any sort of style or grace. I get excited about ideas but have trouble implementing them. I used to think I just wasn't born to "create."
I think now though that consumption and creation are a different side of the same coin. If you fill a balloon with water, it will eventually burst from fullness. If you squeeze that same balloon, eventually all the water will be gone and you're left with nothing, no matter how hard you squeeze. I don't think it's possible for anyone to only consume or for anyone to only create, even me.
I mentioned above that I can't really cook without a recipe. That's true, it's rare for me. But cooking without a recipe is only one way to define creation. I can cook. I can bake. I can start with 10 separate ingredients and make something completely different. I can have flour and cocoa and sugar and eggs and baking powder in front of me and an hour later I can give you a cake. I created something.
I took piano lessons for 3 years and I was bad at it and I didn't enjoy it. Now I wish I could play. There's a piano in the lobby of my office, and a few times a day when no one is around I sneak over to it and softly practice "For the Beauty of the Earth." It's painfully slow work for such a simple piece. But I can play most of it. Where there was silence, I created music.
So if we look at the word "creative" as being able to make something out of nothing, no one is truly creative. The only true creator is God, the only being to really create something out of nothing. And humanity bears the image of God, and in return we create in our small ways. I don't have to be upset that I'm not a creative person, because it's not possible not to create. We just don't do it from ex nihlio as our creator did. In a way, my lopsided strawberry cake and my awkward, pained playing are whispers of the creator.
I also love to consume on pinterest. What great ideas have people come up with? How do you stay motivated? What are tips for the perfect morning? I rarely put any of these things into action, but it's definitly my second favorite form of consumption.
I'm great at consumption, but always just figured I wasn't a "creative" person. And in the most common sense of the word I'm just plain not. I can't draw or compose music. I can't cook without a recipe really or play a musical instrument with any sort of style or grace. I get excited about ideas but have trouble implementing them. I used to think I just wasn't born to "create."
I think now though that consumption and creation are a different side of the same coin. If you fill a balloon with water, it will eventually burst from fullness. If you squeeze that same balloon, eventually all the water will be gone and you're left with nothing, no matter how hard you squeeze. I don't think it's possible for anyone to only consume or for anyone to only create, even me.
I mentioned above that I can't really cook without a recipe. That's true, it's rare for me. But cooking without a recipe is only one way to define creation. I can cook. I can bake. I can start with 10 separate ingredients and make something completely different. I can have flour and cocoa and sugar and eggs and baking powder in front of me and an hour later I can give you a cake. I created something.
I took piano lessons for 3 years and I was bad at it and I didn't enjoy it. Now I wish I could play. There's a piano in the lobby of my office, and a few times a day when no one is around I sneak over to it and softly practice "For the Beauty of the Earth." It's painfully slow work for such a simple piece. But I can play most of it. Where there was silence, I created music.
So if we look at the word "creative" as being able to make something out of nothing, no one is truly creative. The only true creator is God, the only being to really create something out of nothing. And humanity bears the image of God, and in return we create in our small ways. I don't have to be upset that I'm not a creative person, because it's not possible not to create. We just don't do it from ex nihlio as our creator did. In a way, my lopsided strawberry cake and my awkward, pained playing are whispers of the creator.
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