Who you are is significant. Though we sometimes feel incredibly small or unimportant in the seas of humanity, know that your story is part of the thread of 
fabric that makes up this world.
I like to look at the world as a beautifully woven tapestry. Each of our lives represents a thread. As our threads work their way through our individual life, our life touches other’s lives. Sometimes, we intertwine for years and decades. Sometimes we touch briefly, but forever change the trajectory of another.
Sometimes, we may never actually come face to face with another life, yet through our stories allow someone to know that they are not alone.
When we see another person’s vulnerability and pain, we can relate. When we see how they transformed adversity into love, we can be inspired. The recording of their story allows us to see that our lives, too, can be different from what we are existing in. The stories of others allow us to learn and emulate and discover new ways of being.
Sometimes, the stories of others give us permission to see the beauty in the small, everyday parts of life. It allows us to see that there is significance in those daily tasks that create a conscious life.
The fabric of humanity is built on these stories. This fabric becomes richer and more beautiful with every story we add. It grows stronger and more durable when we stand in our uniqueness. Conversely, we fray that fabric when we try to blend in. Every time we do what we think we “should,” instead of what our hearts beg us to do, we deny who we were born to be.
You. Your life. Your story. It’s not only important. It is essential to the fabric of humanity.
The question becomes: how do you explore your own story? How do you find the breadcrumbs that will lead you from unconscious existence to the understanding that your daily actions have the power to create a conscious life?
Iwholeheartedly believe that the answer to that question is that we begin to explore our story through the art of creation.When it comes to being a “creative” or a “non-creative” person, we are ALL creators in some sense.
Creative doesn’t mean that you have to write a novel or paint a masterpiece. It can be the act of creating a meal or photographing your family. It can be working in your garden or rearranging the furniture in your home. Maybe it’s dancing in the kitchen, putting outfits together for your family, or creating connections between folks.
All of this is creative. When we create, we cultivate meaning. When we create, we stand stronger in our own power as a unique individual, we make the fabric of humanity stronger. Our piece, our story, our creations are all necessary. In her research on wholehearted living, Brene Brown found that “Unused creativity doesn’t just disappear. It lives within us until it’s expressed, neglected to death, or suffocated by resentment and fear.”
Last week, I invited you to commit to some soul tending as we make our way from Mardi Gras through spring. If you haven’t yet chosen something, may I invite you to commit to being creative?
The practice I’ve chosen for myself as my Lenten Soul Tending is going to be to write daily.
I share this with you for a couple of reasons. The first is transparency around what I’m going to be devoted to. When I suggest that you do something as a way to move forward in your life like I did, I want you to know that I follow my own advice.
Though I write regularly, I can’t honestly say that I’ve been writing daily. Well, I make regular to-do lists and jot down what I’m grateful for. But I haven’t been really sitting down to write beyond my dedicated Tuesday writing day.When I asked you asked you what tiny spark could you choose to fuel your own flame, I asked myself the same question.
The answer that came back to me was to fuel my flame with words. To go beyond the lists and the practices in place and explore my own thread of humanity: where I’ve been, where I am, and where I’m going. Becoming devoted to my main creative outlet – writing – allows me to be transparent with the one person that I must be honest with: myself.
What creative act can fuel your flame? What can draw you deeper into your own story? To flesh out your memories, push your edges, and remind yourself of the significance in your way of being? How can devotion to your story and your own creativity propel you towards creating a daily life you love?
