Creativity, rest and “inhaling good air” in Carlingford

Hey friends! Another Monday is here: hope yours is going well! We have just under two weeks before our great adventure so we’re making lists, finishing up work projects, making sure nothing will blow up when we’re away, etc… It was nice to change the pace yesterday afternoon for a wee road trip. I’d never been to Carlingford and am so glad Dan suggested it! We listened to a couple of Liturgists podcasts as we drove, and a few thoughts stood out that I thought I’d share with you here.

The guys were discussing creativity from the angles of science, art and faith. Creativity not confined to making visual or musical art, or even making, necessarily – but creativity defined as creating something, or finding new ways to explain things, or building on something that already exists. Michael Gungor spent some time on the question of where creativity comes from. He talked about “tending the ground that you’re creating from” – that ground being your self, or your mind, or your soul – the “seat of your being”. Creating is a decision making process, making value judgements, and so the foundation under these decisions or judgements is just as important as what you are creating. I love that.

Michael talks about just not breathing out (creating) but also inhaling. Inhaling good air.

“When I’m healthy like that, I can’t not create.”

I’d also listened to Jenn Johnson earlier in the week who was talking about the idea of rest and how it doesn’t need to mean doing nothing. We all need our time to sit still and be quiet and stay under the duvet and not move for a few hours; but rest can also be found in doing things we love, enjoying ourselves, having fun, exploring new things. I certainly find that to be true. What are the things you enjoy that give you rest, or that make you feel like you’re inhaling good air?

Let’s not get so caught up in creating that we forget to tend the patch we are creating from. Let’s allow ourselves to inhale good air, to rest – whatever that looks like for us.

      

Have a great week! I’ll be back with a very exciting Creator Quarter post featuring some bearded candlemakers, and some super fun Capture NI Holiday edition posts after that!