Day One - The Inner Creative

I believe that many (maybe most) of us have an artist inside.  

My concept of an “inner artist,” or more accurately, an “inner creative,” might be different from the standard definition of an artist.  

When I think about artists, I conclude that creativity takes a variety of forms: writing, painting, woodworking, music, photography, cooking, or gardening.  There must be many others.  

To me, these are all worthy forms of creativity and art.  They all matter.  They all can make our lives richer and more beautiful.  Shouldn't we make room for that?

I’ve been thinking about the importance of acknowledging our inner creative, and nurturing that part of ourselves.  And yes, the importance is about creating something to share and give to others, but it’s not only about that.

It’s also about being the best version of ourselves.

When we are well-rounded, with a creative outlet and a true respect for ourselves, perhaps we can be more effective in other areas of our lives (even the ones that seemingly have little to do with creativity).

If we recognize that we are creative at heart, and it’s part of the way we ourselves have been created, then maybe we will give more, and expect more, from that part of us.  In turn, could there be a positive domino effect from that authenticity, that reveals itself throughout the rest of our lives?

Could our parenting, our marriages, our day jobs, and our faith, all be impacted in a positive way, once we make a little space for our art?

We respect and honor our inner creatives in various ways:

• We spend time creating our art.  It doesn’t have to be full-time, to be important.

• We allow a portion (however small) of our money to provide the supplies and support that we need.

• We share our creative projects with others (at least sometimes).

• We allow ourselves to be authentic with what we make.

• We don’t disparage ourselves or our abilities, by thoughts or words. 

• We acknowledge our dreams.

Another crucial step is to push back against perfectionism, which is the persistent enemy of the inner creative.  

We must be vigilant, because perfectionism keeps us from producing and sharing anything useful.  Perfectionism has several names, including The Resistance (Steven Pressfield), and Stinkin’ Thinkin’ (Zig Ziglar), and we always have to watch out for it.  We’re human, and perfection is not of this world.

So, I pledge that this blog will not be perfect.  It will be useful to me, and I hope it will be useful to others, and that’s my goal.  Useful creativity.

Day One or One Day?  Day 1 of this project is DONE. 

The accompanying podcast episode for this post is available here: https://anchor.fm/theinnercreative/episodes/The-Inner-Creative-001---Day-One-eikdmk