Create a space

Create a space for breath.
Create a space for thought.
Create a space to hear the word of God.
Create a space to be who you are.
Create a space for tears.
Create a space that refreshes the soul, rebuilds the inner world and reconstructs who you will be.
Create a space for recovery.
Create a space for new life.

Creativity is an important form of release and personal expression. Opening to creativity allows the inner thoughts and feelings to be processed fully. For me, creating something is a way I expell excess energy, create inner peace and resolve feelings. It also gives me an important outlet for the thoughts and feelings that sometimes overwhelm me.

I have learned that thoughts in the darkness can feel like shadows - large and ominous. They can build up and become far more threatening. Then, shared or expressed, they are what they truly are.

Space is something that is a rare commodity. We fill every single nook and cranny with stuff. There are books about de-cluttering, organizing and staying on top of everything. But when it comes down to it, space is so often crowded out by the minute pieces that build up. Rarely are we aware of the build up until it's significant.

Space comes hard, but it needs to be made.

When my friend put her house up for sale, she had to "stage" it before showings. All personal photographs were put away. Extra books, knick knacks and what-have-you was packed and stored. Even furniture was pared down, moved around and set to look a certain way: to optimize space or light, to make the rooms look bigger or more appealing, to help the buyer visualize themselves in the space.

To me, staging seems unreal and forced. It is not authentic life being lived out. There is now space that must be maintained in a certain, artificial way, even though more things have been removed and more clutter taken out.

So space must also have a safety and warmth to it in order to be restorative and helpful.

I have learned all these things in the last year or so. But still, like everyone else, I hit the wall before I realize what I need and where I should be. I don't know what it will take for me to be able to shake off the demands of life (the clog in the bathtub drain, the floor needing to be swept, groceries bought, meals made and eaten and cleaned up). These demands must be met - we must eat and live in a clean home - but they can burn away until all time is spent on them.

Create space to BE.
And then, in the space, create.
Create and be.

Creativity in itself can be a burden. Does it have to be perfect? Does it require expensive equipment or a lot of equipment or messy equipment? Does it take too much time to set up? Do you have to be in a particular head space to do this creativity? Those are all signs that this is not the creativity you need in this moment.

Creativity for one could be cooking. For another that is a burden and a chore.
For one, knitting could be restorative or stress relieving. For another it is stress causing and feels "old lady-ish".
One might enjoy sketching or scrapbooking while another might balk at their lack of skill or the need for more and more supplies.

Stop, and open to the Lord. What gift of creativity has He given you? You have one! Perhaps today He will inspire you to try something new.

Now, I challenge you to go and create space and then do it.

And, I challenge myself to do the same. I will report back on this later.