I have been creative all of my life, that is, as far back as I can remember. when I was younger and we were home from school on summer breaks if we weren't made to go to summer school or vacation bible camp or some other thing my mom had for us to do, I would watch tv. in particular I would watch the soap operas and my favorite was susan lucci as Erica kane, she was the epitome of drama. I would sit in my room and play act, i'd put on a show by myself and be as dramatic as she was, i'd make myself cry as I dialogued and really enjoyed myself that way. that's the actor in me.
as I got older I began to draw, mostly faces. I would take the faces out of magazines and draw them and try to get as close as possible without tracing any portion of the face. then I began pulling the cartoons out of the paper and drawing them, once I drew the "love is" couple on a pair of jeans. that's the artist in me.
as I was growing up I used to rearrange the furniture in my bedroom because I got tired of looking at it the same way all of the time. so as I got older and could move things around without the help of others my room changed from, almost one week to the next. I have a strong dislike for white walls but we couldn't paint over them so rearranging furniture appeased me. when my mom didn't complain about it I was happy. one day I decided to rearrange the living room, my mom and step-dad didn't complain so I made it a regular thing. they'd go off to work and the living room looked one way, come back home and it looked another. that's the interior designer in me.
my maternal grandmother sewed all of the time so I learned simple stiches from her. she also liked to crochet so I learned how to do that as well. as I was getting into interior design I began to make pillows and sell them or I would make bath salts and buy candles and create gift baskets and sell those. that's the creator in me.
to cope with life sometimes I would write it started with my journaling as a teenager and then as an adult, it was put on my heart to write my life's story and then another book as well. I now have this blog and I write as much as I can because it soothes, it heals, it releases. that's the writer in me.
creativity is in my blood, my dna. my father is an artist, I have aunts that are artists and authors, cousins who write, draw, create. my sons are all creative, one used to rap, one is an artist and one sings. creativity is my soul, my spirit, my life's energy and it bothers me just a little when someone tries to stifle that, hinder that, belittle that and call it nothing or non-important simply because they don't understand it or they don't like it or they don't whatever it.
but it only bothers me a little bit because the bottom line is I was created this way by the ultimate Creator, He put this in me before I began to form. it rode in on the seed and planted in fertile ground and I was created to be a creator. my God has already told me that this is me, He has already said to me that this is a part of my calling, He has already ordained me to do this thing and has given me the desire to see it through. so because of that I am quite content in the creative me that I am because He created me.
what I would ask you to do, you who don't know yet what your gift is, is to ask God blatantly, specifically what it is that He has put in you to do. then, sit back and listen for His answer. your gift may not be creativity, it may be the gift of helps or listening or mentoring or organizing or just simply love. He may have created you to just love on people so that if no one else has shown them love they see it and feel it when they encounter you. what I would also ask is that you not be jealous of someone else's gift, it's theirs and if it wasn't put in you then it means He wanted you to do something else. when God reveals your gift to you, walk in it please because each gift plays a role in how this world rotates and each is equally important.
peace and blessing wonderful people!
jai ar
