Something that is missing from our world today is the generosity of spirit to give what you have without expectation of reciprocation. Being generous is a skill we need to practice, and one of the best ways we can be generous to ourselves, others and society at large is through our creativity. Every single one of us is capable of immense generosity in a multitude of forms. It lies within us.
I want to explore the way engaging with our creativity today can help us become more generous over time. I want us to examine the ways creativity is generous; from art to problem solving to invention, creativity is one of those rare activities that give back what we put in. However, in order to allow creativity to be generous for us, we first need to be generous with our time, energy and passion to creativity.
Being Generous TO our Creativity
To be generous to our creativity we need to give of ourselves; our time, space, effort and passion.
Giving creativity the respect of time, whether that means a scheduled routine for consistency or the grace of time to unfold through practice.
Allowing our creativity to have space both in our physical world and our mental and emotional lives, we validate our core need to be expressive and explore those expressions through creativity. Designating a corner of the house or a whole room to our creative disciplines, or giving our creative ideas space in our brains to percolate and expand is crucial to claiming our creativity.
To give creativity our effort and energy, a place for our passion to explode with excitement and purpose is the most generous gift we can give to our creative lives. The more of ourselves we invest in our creativity, the more we realize our own creative power.
We can unlock a generosity of nature through developing a generous attitude towards our creativity. At its core, being generous, giving to our creativity is giving to ourselves, a feedback loop of encouragement, reflection, evolution and self-efficacy.
Being Generous WITH our Creativity
Once we have given to our creativity, we can be generous with our creativity. This requires us to claim our creative selves, take up space with our creativity and share!
The first step in this saga of being generous with our creative lives is to claim the title of creative. We need to claim that title in our hearts and out in the world. Say it to yourself every morning, change your instagram bio to include “creative”, let your family or friends know that you create. However you choose to take that step, it’s a big one, so make sure you’re loud.
Our next step is to take up space; bolstered by the confidence of claiming our creativity, we’ve opened the door to taking up space. This step is hard, because it means that in our daily lives, in our conversations, in our posts and social media presence (because let’s face it, we all have one these days) we need to take up space with our creativity. That may look like discussing creativity with peers or family, building boundaries around your creative time and enforce them, or even posting about your creative journey (not necessarily your actual creative projects) on social media or starting your own blog space or website for your creative life.
The scariest step, but perhaps the most necessary one to be generous with our creativity is to share it with others! To start, that might be showing family or trusted friends what you’re working on. The later stages may be sharing content online, showcasing them on social media or with a creative community.
The point of being generous with our creativity is to share who we are and what we do with the world, and in doing so, potentially give others permission or a sign to embrace their creative sides too.
The Generosity OF Creativity
The beautiful reciprocity of creativity is that you get what you give. The more generous you are with it and to it, the more generous and abundant creativity will be for you. Creativity itself is a tool and a companion in life, one that can act as a path forward and as a mirror to reflect who you are now and the world you live in. Creativity, when cultivated, yields an abundant harvest of connection, expression and fulfilment.
Connection comes from creativity in forms of community and personal understanding. We connect with our work and ourselves through the creative experience, and then when we finally share it with others we connect to a community of support and creative minds that recognize themselves in us.
The generosity of expression from our creativity helps us to understand ourselves and our process in a different way. The more generous we are with what we give to our works and pieces, the more expression we can glean from these experiences of creating, the more abundant and beautiful our creativity can give back to us.
The last of these is fulfilment, which is perhaps the most generous return our creativity can give us. The realization of our ability and power to create and engage with the ethereal delight of creativity soothes a romantic part of our souls that yearn for more than the day to day. We all have worlds inside of us, from artistic aspirations to problem solving puzzles and practical works of magic. There is a satisfaction and fulfilment in creating something from our own minds, in our own hands.
The abundant generosity our creative works give out to the world in the form of inspiration and joy, and to ourselves in the form of fulfilment and connection.
It can be difficult to find the generosity within ourselves and in our creativity when it feels like we give and it takes, constantly draining us daily of emotion and ideas. However, if we can see the ways in which we are being generous to our creativity and understanding that we are being generous to ourselves in the process, we can better appreciate the generous gifts our labour yields when, finally, they do arrive.
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