Creativity = satisfaction and fulfillment, i.e. HAPPINESS

Creativity is a huge part of happiness for me.  When I am making something, I just feel good.  I come from a creative family.  My mother was probably one of the first “Martha Stewart” types of homemakers.  She could and would make just about anything, out of a variety of materials—often improvised and usually very inexpensive.  She was a great cook, a master seamstress, the original scrap booker, and the Queen of do-it-yourself home improvement projects (with my father as her trusty side-kick).  Every house our family lived in was remodeled on a consistent basis.  We learned to live amongst the ongoing transition.

As an adult, I have come to truly appreciate how my parents instilled creativity and the constant pursuit of excellence.  Fortunately, I married an artist, so I am continuing the tradition—with my own unique twist.  I’m hoping my own children will follow along the same path.  We’ll see.

I often hear people claim that they don’t have any talents, or they don’t have any creativity within them.  They feel intimidated at the thought of being “creative.”  I think this quote from Deiter Uchtdorf is the perfect answer to that dilemma:

“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty. Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty. . . . You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before.”