Friday reflection
What will you dare to create?
It’s funny, lately I’ve been feeling some threads from earlier in my life and career weaving themselves into my work here at Mighty Forces in new ways. One of those threads: being an advocate for the idea that we are all creative. Back in my 20s, reading The Artist’s Way was a huge turning point for me; it brought to the surface my own creativity and hunger for self-expression. I lived in Washington, DC at the time and started a blog called Creative DC to inspire and showcase creativity in our nation’s capital.
Lately, I’ve realized that when I call for more women to tell their stories, what I’m really doing is calling for more women to exercise their creative power, to see that we have the power to make things — art, yes, as well as choices that shape our lives and the larger world. I fervently believe when more women exercise our creative power, the shape of the world bends towards justice, compassion, and sustainability.
With that as fodder, I wonder…
Questions
Do you believe that you’re creative?
Do you believe you have the power to create a life you love?
Do you believe you have the power to create a better world?
After you jot down your answers to these questions, I invite you to ask yourself, “How do I know?” For example, if you write, “No, I don’t think I have the power to create a better world,” interrogate that answer a bit. How do you know that you don’t have that power? Can you be certain? What have you tried, or what evidence do you have? Is it possible to try something different, and maybe experience a shift in your response?
And, one final question:
If you were six times bolder, what would you dare to create?
…Just, you know, some light reflection for a summer Friday ;). Nothing like some deep, existential questions to ponder over a glass of lemonade, as your toes dip into the nearest swimming pool….
But seriously, I feel these are pivotal, essential questions, and understanding our answers to them may just hold the key to our ability to savor and make good use of our time on this gnarly planet of ours.
You are a mighty force.
Amanda
P.S. For a long time, I’ve wondered about running an Artist’s Way group — holding space for a group of women to go through the experience of reading the book and doing the exercises together. If this is something you’d be interested in, let me know!