CREATE (relevant definitions via Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary):
Transitive Verb:
- To bring into existence
- To produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior
- To produce through imaginative skill
Intransitive Verb
- To make or bring into existence something new
I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a creative person. I’ve long wanted to be one, and recently, I discovered that I am. How many things each day do I bring into existence or cause to happen? I use my skills to create sentences, organize spaces, match pieces of an outfit.
I’ve always been creative – we all are. But I want more. I’m keenly aware that I’m holding myself back. I’m even in the midst of writing my first book – a children’s book – and as much as I’m enjoying the process, I’m feeling challenged.
What if it’s not good enough? Good enough to who? It’s something unique, something new, something fresh. The fact that I made it is amazing in and of itself. It’s something that exists – that is being published – that did not exist before. And I have good reason to believe that people are going to buy and read it.
What will people think? Honestly: WHO CARES? I know better than to even to try to satisfy everyone. And I also know better than to read the comments. There will always be critics, but unless it’s criticism that will help me improve the next time – and there will be a next time – it’s not worth hearing.
There’s a difference between having ideas, though, and being creative. The latter is imagination, while the other is actual execution and bringing something into the world, into existence, that was not there before.
We’re all creative people in our own right. I have too many ideas, I know, which is why I’m so glad that my biggest childhood dream – a book! – is finally coming true.
The Vibrant Depths 