When You Don’t Feel Creative: 6 Ways to Embrace Your Creative Identity
Adulting threatens to erase the wonder which captivated our young imaginations. Much of our day is spent working through practical details. Preoccupied with planning carpools, meals, and care-giving responsibilities, it’s easy to see why so many of us postpone our creative endeavors.
Failing to feel creative doesn’t mean your creativity has vanished along with your free time. Your longing to create is still there, burrowed deep in your soul.
When I speak with women about caring for the creative seeds in their souls, some look crestfallen. You see, many of us believe our creative days are behind us.
I recognize the look in their eyes, because it’s one I saw in the mirror for years. In fact, there was a time when I even believed I was absent the day God handed out creativity.
As a child, reading a good book made me want to create a vehicle to transport others across space and time. I did not understand the stirring that accompanied beautiful words on a page was my creativity in seed form.
As I grew, reading for pleasure was replaced by reading for school. Eventually, words became a means of earning a living rather than fuel for my soul. I traded my sense of adventure nurtured on journeys to Narnia for trips to the courtroom.
Busyness blanketed these dormant creative seeds for years. Until one night, they turned into jumping beans, stirring to life when I read to my children. That feeling of wanting to make something all my own returned. It quieted as I talked myself out of making my creative dreams a reality.
The longing to create remained buried deep under everyday responsibilities for a while longer. I was secretly afraid of what would happen once that desire was tapped and harnessed. I could not imagine a life in which these seeds were planted and bore actual, tangible fruit. Even still, in those dormant years, God fertilized the soil.
We are each designed by God to be co-creators with Him. Kernels of God’s creativity lie within each one of us, awaiting our attention. Our inactivity does not tie His hands.
Misunderstanding my role in the creative process slowed the discovery and nurturing of my own creative seeds. But here’s the great news, it did not stop me. And it does not have to stop you!
Words transported me as a child. Nothing else lifted my imagination allowing it to take flight in quite the same way. What is it for you? What, after being in its presence, inspires you to want to create? Maybe it's the way you can conjure a meal out of the scraps in your pantry, the style with which you dress, the graphics you design, how you decorate your home, or decorate a cookie. There are infinite ways to express creativity.
There is no expiration date on your seeds of creativity. If you nurture them they will bloom, no matter your age.
A gardener learns what will thrive in her plot of land. We can discover this in our own creative lives too. We can’t harvest our creativity in someone else’s garden. You see, each of our gardens is a little bit different. We each have different amounts of time, levels of support and skill, as well as experience.
While nurturing your creative seeds, it’s tempting to become bitter because of the length of your growing seasons.
As I began to write (and speak) for an audience, I needed to be realistic about the conditions of my own garden. This helped me experience less frustration with the pace of my progress. Your seed is perfectly capable of growing and even flourishing in the soil of your life. Yes, the one you live right this very minute.
Tayler Crabb, @taylercrabb.
IIf your creative harvest is taking longer than you hoped, here are some ideas.
Be inspired by the beauty in other people’s gardens.
Trust the seasonality of the creative life. Some seasons are meant for planning and amending the soil. If you write, read beautiful words. If you paint, visit a museum or gallery. If you sing, listen to musicians in a different genre. After interacting with the work, ask yourself: what makes me want to create? If I made something like this, what changes would I make to reveal that I was the co-creator?
Weed within the boundaries of our own garden.
Weed out anything that sparks your inner critic to say, “you aren’t creative”. (This is UNTRUE.) Mute anyone on social media who sends you in a negative spiral, at least until your creative roots are stronger. Your role is to be a co-creator. Please do not quit before your roots have time to sink deep.
Embrace the climate you have.
Take a deep breath and repeat after me: “Lack of time does not indicate a lack of creativity.” We all need support to express our creativity. Your support team status doesn’t need to permanently affect your creative life. As you test out different creative seeds, pray to discover the kind of support you need in order to pursue your creative ideas. Remember, your roots are always growing deeper. No time is wasted, even if you’re nurturing your creativity for a few minutes a week.
Create a seed catalog.
You have creative ideas. Take notes. Keep track of what you’re learning and observing. Start a list of quotes that stir your soul. Not all seeds become seedlings. Not all seedlings become full-fledged plants.
Amend your soil.
Learn from others who are a little bit ahead of you in the creative journey. They will remember what it’s like and help you nurture your own creative seedlings. Pray to find people who are worthy of your trust and attention. Getting your soil ready allows your seeds to flourish when the time is right.
Gather with other gardeners.
We all need community, especially when you’re doing something as vulnerable as putting part of yourself into what you create. Here is another opportunity to pray for God to send you the people you need.
Meet Katie Kibbe
Katie is a writer and coach who comes alongside women who are discovering what faith-inspired success looks like for them. A cradle Catholic married to the boy she met in Spanish class more than 30 years ago, she loves being outdoors no matter the weather. Katie is the author of small group discussion guides, Abide and Arise, available on Amazon. She would love to connect on Instagram @katie_kibbe.