“Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
– – – Albert Einstein
When I was a kid, we had a rustic summer guest house called The Tide Rock House in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. There was a comforting salt water smell, soothing pastel colors on the walls, and a long row of rattan rocking chairs on the front porch. The aroma of bacon and eggs wafted in from the dining hall where the guests cooked their meals. I had my first kiss in that house, a quick peck on
my lips from a boy named Bobby, and each morning after breakfast, I pulled the shades down in the living room and I used the side of the old piano as a ballet barre. I put on a record of classical music and I practiced my plies, arabesques and pirouettes.
One of our guests walked downstairs one morning, sat on a rocking chair on the porch and she began to knit. I was on the chair beside her, rapt, watching her fingers fly over the needles. One morning, she took her seat on the porch, reached into her knitting bag and pulled out an extra pair of needles and a ball of blue yarn.
“Do you like blue?” she asked.
I nodded my head.
“These are for you,” she said. She cast on twenty stitches and I watched as she looped the yarn, flipped the needles around and then she handed them to me. “Have a try,” she said.
It was hard to copy what she had just done but she was patient with me and when I dropped a stitch, she got it back on the needle. I relaxed into the rhythm of knitting and purling and before I knew it, I had finished a whole row. My first project was a tennis sweater for my father. It came out several sizes too large and it had some holes, but he made a big deal out of putting it on so I could see it when he was heading out to play tennis.
This hobby has always soothed my soul. I love to make beautiful things and today, when I watch TV, it gives me something to do with my hands. In my spare room, there are pattern books from all over the world and a wall of shelves of home-made sweaters, jackets, shawls, scarves and hats. I call it “The Cagan Collection,” and when the shelves are filled to overflowing, I give things away and make some more.
The other day, I spoke with a friend who was going through a difficult illness. “When I get up,” she said, “all I can think about is my health. I feel depressed.”
“What kind of creative things do you like to do?” I asked her. “Painting, singing, reading, dancing, writing, designing clothes? Knitting? Something else?”
“I used to paint,” she said, “I really liked it, but I haven’t done it in years. I don’t have an easel or any canvasses anymore and I have no idea where my paints and brushes are.”
“Let’s go out and buy some,” I said.
When we got home from the art store, she began sorting her new brushes and mixing paint colors. She was inspired and her life became something more than her illness. She was feeling the satisfaction of losing time and creating something wonderful in her challenging world.
I believe we all have some form of creativity in us, it’s part of being human, but maybe you don’t know what yours is. When I was interviewing Magic Johnson for his book about business, I asked him, “You always knew two things that you wanted to do. Basketball and business. What would you tell people who don’t know what makes them happy?”
“Try everything,” he said. “If something doesn’t feel right, try the next thing. It will come to you if you don’t give up.”
Activating your creativity is a satisfying way to tame an overactive mind, a way to change the channel and focus on what feels good. I’m not suggesting you hide from the truth but maintaining an upbeat state of mind in the midst of difficulty, slowing down and breathing deeply, can help lower your stress levels, strengthen your immune system and give you something beautiful to focus on. The more you flex your creative muscles, the more you’ll want to keep on doing it.
It feels good to make something we are proud of but it isn’t always easy. The commitment to creativity takes courage and self-confidence. It takes guts and will power to get started and the stamina to keep on going. It takes calming down your inner critic and replacing it with self-compassion. You may keep making mistakes and having to go back to Square One, but if you don’t go for what you want to express, the world will be deprived of something important and valuable.
Creativity is each person’s unique expression in this life and if you keep at it, you’ll see that the well never runs dry. When Russian Composer, Igor Stravinsky created “Firebird,” his music was so innovative and different from anything that had ever been done before, the audience walked out on what became one of the most highly prized creations in the world of music and ballet. What if he
had given up? We would have missed out on one of life’s greatest joys and rewards.
Maya Angelou said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
Recent Comments