Satisfying the Soul

Satisfying the Soul

“Ask not what the world needs, rather ask what makes you come alive and go do that, for what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Howard Thurmond

“Creativity is so satisfying.  That is why it is so important, not because it produces something, but because the process is cosmological, spiritual, centering and satisfying.”

Matthew Fox

            I am a compulsive creator.  I can’t help myself, truly.  Sometimes I think I need an intervention to save me from myself.  For as long as I can remember, I have been driven to create.  During my working years and while my children were growing up, I had to exercise my creativity in utilitarian ways—cooking meals, rearranging the furniture, making home for my family, teaching classes.  Now that I’m retired and single, I can let this shadow side of myself run rampant.  I have projects in every room. I collect interesting things out of alleyways and off curbs when I go for walks.  I experiment with dyes and beads and pens and paint.  I love best to use something that has been discarded to create something new.  Recently, my friend, Isie, gave me several fabric sample books that her decorator daughter had discarded.  I pulled all the squares and rectangles of fabulous cloth out of them and made quilts and bags and purses.  It was a treasure trove for me. 

            Creativity is one way of reconnecting body to soul, especially when one doesn’t get caught up in the business of making it perfect, or doing it “the right way.”  True creativity is chaotic and organic.  It begins with an idea and then goes through a trial and error process before taking shape in its finished form.  Sometimes it turns out to be something completely unexpected.  Whether one is making soup, painting a canvas, photographing an orchid, or writing a poem, creativity comes from a deeper place.  It focuses and quiets the mind.  It satisfies the soul. 

            My cousin, Jerry, works with wood.  When he gets a piece of wood that speaks to him, he handles it like a loved one, caresses it and becomes effusive in talking about it.  All the possibilities for what it might become play through his mind; he smiles inwardly and outwardly.  He can already see its finished form.  His passion is obvious, and his finished products are testaments to his love of wood.  Everyone should do something that makes them that happy.  Even though wood working is not his vocation, the joy it gives him spills over in his other work and relationships.  It makes him more alive and juicy.

            Today, create something.  Even if you have only five minutes, doodle on a piece of paper, arrange a vase of flowers, rearranges the spices in your pantry, refold and arrange the towels in your linen closet.  There are a million ways to be creative and every one of them is satisfying to the soul.

                                                                        In the spirit,

                                                                        Jane