“O chestnut tree, great rooted blossomer,
Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole?
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?”
– William Butler Yeats
When I admire a beautiful work of art or music, such as Monet’s Water Lilies and Chopin’s Nocturnes, I cannot help but wonder – who is the true creator of this work? In a way, there is ultimately no separation between the artist and the artwork (or the composer and the composition) as they are made by the same creator. There is only one source of creativity that is expressing itself in a multitude of forms through its own creations.
Creation is an ongoing process in which everything is constantly being created and destroyed in this temporal world. Just look at the wild geese in flight, the dance of leaves caught in the wind and the ripples on the surface of the lake – there is not a moment that is identical to next. Similarly, in our lives, both our external and internal states are constantly changing. Though there is constant evolution and apparent separation between different life forms, there is a common thread that runs throughout all of creation – the imprint of the one creator. In the words of Mary Oliver, “there exist a thousand unbreakable links between each of us and everything else.” All of life is sustained by the same source of creation.
As creations of God, we are gifted with the power to co-create. Yet, we are too often consumed by hubris and we forget that this creative ability does not originate from us. Nothing that we create is truly our personal accomplishment. Even things that we label as man-made are merely creations that we have been enabled to create. In addition, we often forget that everything we create is intimately connected to everything else. As a result, we often misuse our creative ability for our personal benefit at the expense of others.
Our intention to create must be aligned with the intention of the universe to create through us. Only then can we create things with collective benefits that are sustainable. True creativity stems from an attitude of humility and surrender. The only step we have to take is to lean into the source of creativity and allow for its expression through our individual gifts and talents. What we create is inextricably linked to all of creation and we will bear the brunt of our own creations in the end. In the words of Mary Oliver, “the pine tree, the leopard, the Platte River, and ourselves – we are at risk together, or we are on our way to a sustainable world together. We are each other’s destiny.”
© nightdawnday
p.s. Leave a comment if this resonated with you. I love to hear your stories!
We are given a unique gift of creation and to let it evolve hunger is also given that drives us…
Thanks for this post, it concisely expressed the thoughts that seem quite akin to mine
Wow . I wrote down in my journal that I want to be free . ( people may think I…
Wow I love this ! How funny is that these last few days the craziest things been happening to me…
This reflection gave me so much peace. I too find myself drawn into the old but excited for the new.…
I love this post! I also grew up in a culture that praises the outcome of suffering. Agree with your…
What an excellent article–insightful and rich! Thank you for sharing with us! Namaste
Everything may be a path but some paths should be avoided.
Nice post. Bob
You write like a true Buddhist. Hope you find enlightment without suffering. Namaste.
We create out of the materials God gives us, by His creative inspiration. He creates “ex nihlio”- out of nothing but His own creative power!
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Exactly. Exactly we are that nothingness only, and getting dissolved in it is only purpose of human life given as gift by God to set us free from the cycle of birth and death or material world.
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That’s not what I said. We’re not nothingness. We’re made in the image and likeness of God which is why we’re creative. And God’s going to make a new, perfect, embodied creation.
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100% agree! XXXXXXXX
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This very much resonated with me. I believe we are all here to create…and co-creators with the Creator. Actually…the Creator is doing the creating through us if we cooperate. I’ve recently been co-leading a retreat titled “Creative Pathways to God.” The team is made up of an artist, a creative writer and me (singer-songwriter). It’s amazing how free and alive people feel after doing creative exercises!
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I agree! Just this morning I read the following:
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (NIV)
23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. 24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.
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In one of the books of The Maccabees there is a Scripture that says
Obey the physicians for God gave them to you(paraphrased)
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I absolutely love this! Being of service matters so much to me 💜
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Beautifully written!
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I enjoyed reading your post, and felt the theme of humility as a basis for co-creation resonated with my own perceptions. Regardless of race, religion, means, location or species; we inhabit the Earth together.
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I wholeheartedly agree with this idea. It reminds me of a TED talk from Elizabeth Gilbert. In it, she shared a bit of history. Most memorable to me that genius was a being, much as a daemon was to the Greeks. All creation was a cooperative process between men/women and genius. It was not until the Renaissance that we applied the term genius to a person as a descriptor. An act that could place the entire onus of creation in the hands of man alone.
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John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.
The Word was with God in the beginning.
All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.
In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.
And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.
Praise his Name! Jesus!
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We create because we are born to create. The creator of the universe gave us gifts to use in this world. We can make a difference through our gift around us. And in all the things we do it is important to reminds ourselves that God is sovereign. He is above all things, so we have to keep an attitude of humility and surrendering to leave him the space to fill us like a vessel until we overflow to share what we receive. What receive from God is more powerful than what we try to do by ourselves because He is the one who can touch people’s heart.
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For a moment while reading this post, I felt there’s humanity and kindness all around me but suddenly I realized that reality is far contradicting 😕
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Reblogged this on The Masterful Way and commented:
Very insightful and very true. Thank you for posting this…
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Great post. I scratch my head when I hear that a Christian performer walks away from God. Did they forget who gave them the talents, the opportunity, the support? Every time man thinks he is self created God has a habit of setting it straight.
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We are given a unique gift of creation and to let it evolve hunger is also given that drives us to create and sustain the body in this material world. So there is actually no misuse of talent, but the totality, honesty and sincerity with which the artist creates produce a small drop of nectar for him/her like a honey bee collects. So if there is any material loss in creating it still there is actually no loss in spiritual world. Picasso is good example. This way over a period of time a large amount of nectar gets collected and one day fall upon the person. Then a masterpiece comes into existence.
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