Making
Comparisons
“By
listening to the creator within, we are led to our right path.”
Julia
Cameron (The Artist's Way)
Making
comparisons is the death knell of creativity—I know, because I do
it all the time. I read a good book and think, 'I'll never be able to
write like that,' or I go to a gallery show and look at the work of
the other quilters, and tell myself, 'I'll never be that good.' Both
those things are probably true, but it doesn't matter. What we have
to bring to this world is what we have to bring—not what someone
else has to bring.
One
of the most potent neuroses we humans possess is our tendency to
compete with total strangers, and always come up lacking. In doing
so, we short circuit our gifts and talents, and they die on the vine.
This summer, I've been trying to grow Roma tomatoes in large
containers. About half of them die on the vine—they turn a
beautiful, ripe red, but on one end and inside, they're black. It's a
sad sight. That's what happens to us when we deny our creative ideas
and projects because they're “not good enough.” We turn black on
the inside.
To
paraphrase Sarah Ban Breathnach (Simple Abundance), “You're never
going to be original, but you can be authentic.” Listening to the
creator within is listening to God whispering in your ear. Who has
the guts to say 'no' to that? You are here to participate in the
furthering of creation in whatever way is uniquely your own. Comparisons
don't count.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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