I was recently inspired by a talk on godliness and contentment. It made me think about implications of such for creatives. Here therefore are some initial imperfect thoughts.

Creativity is whatever you put into your work, whether it is a work that is qualified or termed as “art” or not. We brought nothing into this world and we cannot take anything out of the world, except for our creativity—our human being-ness. But even this is compromised since none of us is born perfect. 

It takes a unique humility to be critiqued on the things we create since what we create is uniquely and substantially connected with our creative beings, which is extremely fragile. That’s what may be implied when we express our “attachment” to our work or the things we make.  

However, creativity that aspires to perfection is able not only to receive but also to offer critique that amounts to creative excellence. Not that we can achieve it on our own strength, but that we earnestly seek out creative excellence, which by definition is something that is beyond what this world can offer but by which we are brought into this world. But I think starting on that journey and being faithful to our creative calling–staying on track–is an important piece of figuring out how we might truly excel and be content through the creative process.

To be continued

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash. Thank you!