This year for the first time, we will not be able to gather with my parents or in-laws over the holidays. I had to take some time to grieve this loss, and all the things we would not get to do together after so many many months apart already. And after some weeks of sadness, I started to shift from thinking about what this season is NOT, to what it could BE.
This is where creativity shines. The work of any successful facilitator or art teacher is the work of carefully curated limitations. Put hundreds of art supplies in front of someone and tell them to make something, and many will feel overwhelmed and not know where to start. But provide scissors, brightly colored paper, glue and sequins, and ask a group of people to make flowers and plants, and you will end up with a uniquely delightful garden every time.
I’ve been thinking about limitations, in this year that has held so many.
Let me first say that some limitations are just plain painful and traumatic. Like not seeing, touching, gathering with our friends in our deepest moments of need and grief. After a loss, air hugs can feel even more painful than not seeing each other at all. Funerals were not meant for Facetime or Zoom.
In some cases however, limits create opportunities for thinking that wouldn’t happen otherwise. We need the box in order to think outside of it.
Below is a picture of the start of my current creative endeavor. It’s something I’ve always wanted to try to do and the time has come to make it happen. I’m going to keep you in suspense until next week, when I will hopefully share it’s successful completion in this newsletter. (Did you see how I just held myself accountable with you all? I find accountability especially motivating in actually finishing new creative projects ;-))
So here’s my question for you: What opportunities, if any, exist right now in your life? What creative outcomes could come from whatever limitations you are facing?
Here’s to the garden that is creativity.
