Yes, You ARE Creative!

How many times have you said to yourself, “Oh, I’m not very creative…” Amy Pierson will help you see the lie in that belief.

Elisa

Yes, You ARE Creative!

By Amy Howey Pierson

It was mid-June in the Ozarks. At midnight, I sat on the lakeside porch of my camp cabin, writing. Laced with hickory and dogwood, the musky summer air hung heavily across the lake. Atop an Ozark Mountain, a light shone, all night, every night.

Mysteriously I was drawn to it.

I was fifteen and had been a camper for the past three summers. I had mastered the art of quietly padding my way to the screen door and ever-so-carefully opening it at just the right speed so the spring wouldn’t make noise. Most nights, long after lights out and against all the rules, you could find me on the porch with a flashlight, my journal, a Bible and a pen and pencil.

Perched on the porch with my provisions high up on a mountain overlooking Table Rock Lake, I was fascinated by the golden glow of the steady light across the valley and its dance on the silvery water between us.

On that porch, I felt the sacred light of God’s steady presence calling me. Together we would talk about the day, write poems and prayers. I’d listen to his responses in Scripture, and sketch somewhat mystical metaphors for what the Holy Spirit revealed to my heart. Despite the long, sticky-hot, and rigorous camp days, something about that light was magnetic—and the time with God proved more important to me than sleep.

Going back over the pages of my camp journal as an adult, it is as if time has stood still. I’m right back on the porch, mesmerized by God’s light across the water and the rich conversations between my heart and his. Little did I know that what I was experiencing was God’s creative wooing.

I was made to be a maker like him. I sensed it, somehow—knowing before I knew. And, somehow, I know you are a maker too.

I’ve found the word “creative” to be a tricky one. Almost always when I ask people to define “creative,” they shift uncomfortably and answer with a qualifying preamble like, “Hmmm. That’s a hard question.”

People fly by the seat of the pants when they try to define it—especially if they don’t see themselves as creative.

The consensus seems to be that to “be creative” is an act or an ability given to a lucky few, the gifted ones among us. Not only is this concept wrong, but it’s also self-limiting, biblically inaccurate, and spiritually curbing (and that makes it exponentially wrong!)

For believers, the truth is that to be creative is to notice, acknowledge and nurture that part of the Holy Spirit in us and in others. It is both a statement about our being, and a way of being. Being creative isn’t a matter of self-sufficiency, it is a matter of soul-dependency—we are designed to live connected, purposeful lives.

The creativity that I’m talking about is a way of engaging life—a matter of character and rightful identity—and it is the treasure of the everyday opportunities led by the Spirit. As creative people, you and I hold space for Jesus. With heavenly endorsement, we lead lives marked by empowered presence, empathy, and holy-rooted identity. We have stories to tell. Until Christ returns, this world is ours to occupy—and to creatively multiply what we’ve been given (Luke 9:11-26).

Stepping into our authentic creativity, we extend a compelling invitation to others. God’s grace gets traction. (After all, he didn’t leave us with our “talents” expecting to come back to what he’d left. We are where we are to invest for him!) The currency of his kingdom multiplies exponentially in the myriad ways we joyfully relate and grow with those around us.

What too many are not yet convinced of is how essential our creativity is to our spirituality. When we value and feed the creativity of our relational being, we grow, becoming more and more like our Maker. By sharing our journey with other people, we help them recognize what these experiences really are: God-encounters. And in doing so, they may find themselves reconsidering what spiritual life and spiritual experiences are all about. By enlarging their perspective on what it means to connect creatively with God, perhaps they will be inspired to make something new with God.

We are meant to grow in complete ways, not with our creative self simply tacked on as an afterthought. After all, creativity is found in the very beginning of God’s story! And, as we are made in God’s image, it is the beginning of our story too. Our story begins with his creative spirit imparted to us all—whether we recognize it or not, whether we love Jesus or not. Acknowledging the importance of this spark encourages us to shine our creative light. And the world is better for it!

So keep an eye out for the shine in you, and the shine others carry. Just as I was drawn by a light across the lake, your creative light is magnetic to those whose own light has been dimmed by a more cognitive approach to religion. It matters that much, dear maker.

Maker’s Affirmation: Makers value their experiences, feelings, intuition and emotions as essential fodder for their creative life with God. This awareness cracks open their souls to make room for his redemptive work. I am a maker.

Excerpt from Makers in a Thinkers’ World, by Amy Howey Pierson ©2023 Used with permission.

Amy Pierson the author of Makers in a Thinkers’ World: What Brain Science Teaches about the Spiritually Transforming Power of Creativity. She is the founder of Burning Heart Workshops (a soul care ministry) and former executive director of the Spiritual Formation Alliance. A writer, speaker, artist, mom, and amma of two, Amy lives in the Denver area with her hilarious husband, Bill, and their ridiculous golden retriever. Connect with Amy at amypierson.com.