Have you noticed how people tend to describe themselves as either “a creative person,” or “not a creative person?” The ones who believe they’re creative tend to be people whose reason for being is to create art, music, writing, or some tangible creative product.
Those of us who have no specific output of creative “product” are more likely to assume we’re not creative. Both groups can easily overlook this simple truth: everything you or I ever do is an act of creation. Every breath, every thought, every sentence, every chore, every meal made, every conversation, every act of kindness, every mistake, or to sum it up, everything.
Right up to the instant before you engage in any act, that act is undefined and non-existent. Its only existence is as formless energy, the energy of the universe. The moment you have that idea, or speak that sentence, or make that meal, or sing that song, you are taking the formless energy of the universe and giving it form. You’re making something out of nothing, something that didn’t exist until you gave it life.
What could be more creative than making something out of nothing? Our lives are an unending, continuous stream of creation. Here’s what I’ve noticed: when I’m able to acknowledge my life as an unending series of creative acts, I become even more creative. When I fail to acknowledge the creativity flowing through me, nothing I do seems like a creative act.
I’m essentially describing two different approaches to life. If my life doesn’t seem like a creative act, regardless of what I find myself doing, it can seem dreary, mundane, and a little pointless. There’s no sense of excitement, no sense of possibility, no sense of connectedness.
When I remember that it’s impossible for me not to be creative, and to be a creator, I feel like my entire life, including the unpleasant parts, is a thrilling, exciting adventure that can never get old.
The difference between the mundane life and the thrilling, exciting life is simply a matter of orientation. It comes down to this simple choice: Do you want to experience life as a series of events that seem to be happening to and around you? Or do you want to see your life as a creation with you as its creator?
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