So… on Thursday I completed a cross-stitch and then I started another one. It’s something I’ve done for years, I find it quite relaxing and love the way that one stitch is just a small part of a bigger picture. I can follow a pattern and I can follow music but a question I’ve been asking a lot is…

Am I creative?

What do you think of when you think of the word creative? I know that I automatically think of drawing, making models, designing clothes etc… I also think this a frequent misconception. One which I make and therefore put myself into a category of not being creative. However…

The dictionary definition of creative is… having or showing an ability to make new things or think of new ideas.

I really have been thinking about this concept of creativity for ages and then this week I was at a meeting and the word creative came up, being creative in the Spirit of God. Also about being creative, not for anyone else but just because. This really challenged me, and the more I thought about I started to be reminded about The magicians nephew, the first of the books in the chronicles of Narnia (which was bizarrely corrected to anaemia?).

The magicians nephew wasn’t the first to be written but it is the one where we find out how Narnia came in to being. Aslan sang, and Narnia existed. The low notes the ground, the high notes the stars ✨ . Diggory and Polly who were observing this said that they could see what Aslan was thinking and it came through him singing.

To me that’s the perfect example of being creative – showing what’s in your mind. I think it’s safe to say that we all have different minds and therefore when we create it’s going to be different.

Creativity does not look the same for any of us, but we are all creative.

It’s taken me a while not only to accept that I am creative but also to work out where that creativity lies for me. Then I realised that my writing was creative; my sermons at church are creative; teaching teenagers had to be creative; overall I think, that a lot of the time I think outside of the box, especially when trying to explain things to people.

I may not have ever been successful in art or technology lessons at school; I may have always struggled with the composition elements of my music courses; but I am creative I have the ability to make new things or think of new ideas, and show that in different ways.

If you think you’re not creative I’m here to tell you you are; it’s worth taking the time to look at your life and see where that creativity shows.

I hope we can all recognise our creativity and that that may help us and bless others.