I used to be the first person to declare that I was not creative. To be fair, there’s been many seasons in my life that I’ve been surrounded by highly creative people whether it be in the area of music, drawing, painting, etc. I would compare my talents (or lack thereof) with others, which left me frustrated and believing that God did not grace me with creativity. I took this stance so hard that, when we started Ten Thousand Homes, I made my case that creativity could not be a value of the organization.
I wonder if God was sitting in heaven laughing at my absurdity, because absurd it was. I’m not exactly sure when things started to shift, but thankfully they did. As I dabbled in photography, knitting, sewing, and interior design, I realized that creativity takes on many different forms. I also realized that my Enneagram 1 self didn’t have to do creative things perfectly. The wise words of Ira Glass transformed and inspired me to just do, because the more you do, the better you actually get.
After years of trying my hand at various creative outlets, not only did I realize that I was creative but that I needed creativity in my life. I went from stating that creativity could not be one of our organizational values to being one of the biggest advocates for it and incorporating it into our training programs. I realized just how life giving it was.
As seasons have ebbed and flowed, so have my creative ventures. I love learning new things (although I want to be perfect from the get go), so I recently decided to try my hand at refinishing furniture. It’s hot. It’s dirty. It’s a lot of work. But I love it. I think it’s the transformative process of taking something that’s seen better days and breathing new life into it that has me hooked. I still have a lot to learn, but I think I’m getting better every day!
