So Entangled in the Mundane Facts -Daily Meditation 11.3.23

Today’s quotation:

Sometimes, we become so entangled in the mundane facts of our lives that we forget about our creative nature until it starts nagging us with reminders of its needs or until we feel so fractured we know something is wrong.- Anne Hazard Aldrich
Notes from Myself

Today’s Meditation:

Can we become so caught up in our day-to-day lives that we neglect our creativity and uniqueness?  Can we get so caught up in our routines that we forget that we’re incredibly creative individuals who have a tremendous amount of potential to do tons of good in the world in truly unique ways?  You bet we can, and most of us do so, unfortunately.  Most of us live in what Thoreau called “quiet desperation,” wishing for that creativity to catch a spark but not doing anything with the book of matches in our pocket.

It’s generally not a matter of choice, it seems, but a matter of neglect, of distraction.  We become so distracted by those things that we think are important that we don’t allow ourselves to search out other things that may enable us to express ourselves in our unique ways.  Sometimes, of course, our situations don’t allow for certain things. When I’m teaching high school, for example, I find that it’s impossible to work on a novel, no matter how hard I try.  Novels have to be put on the back burner, though I can do other types of writing.

Does this mean we can’t be creative when life gets in the way?  Certainly not.  We are creative beings, and our creativity is a crucial part of who we are.  We must prioritize our creativity, though, and possibly trade time we spend doing other things for time spent on creative pursuits.  Do we need to spend an hour on Facebook or YouTube each day?  Perhaps that time would be better spent on something creative rather than passive.  While time spent being passively entertained can be valuable, so can time spent being creative.

I was born to be creative, and so were you.  It’s a shame that life often seems to get in the way of our creativity, but it’s not a situation that we have to accept completely.  Perhaps we won’t make a living painting, but thirty minutes or an hour a day with a brush can lead to some pretty amazing things.  Finding time to express ourselves creatively can be one of the most important things we ever do for ourselves.

Questions to consider:

In what ways are you most creative?  How much time do you spend being creative each day?

Why does life seem to want to get in the way of our creativity?  How might we counter that tendency?

What can you do today that’s creative and fulfilling?

For further thought:

Because of the routines we follow, we often forget that life is an ongoing adventure. . . Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that the quicker we will be able to treat life as art: to bring all our energies to each encounter, to remain flexible enough to notice and admit when what we expected to happen did not happen.  We need to remember that we are created creative and can invent new scenarios as frequently as they are required.-Maya Angelou

If you missed our last Daily Meditation, it is here.