I’ve spent my creative time “in the moment”, since I finished putting together my He Restores My Soul Course—a soul-transforming Faith+Art Journey through Psalm 23. Creating with a deadline, and specific direction, and all the not-creative-in-the-same-way aspects (like designing webpages, promotions, setting up membership processes, and all the other left-brain aspects) can be so not-restorative.
To get back into restorative creativity, especially after the heavy happenings this past week, I needed some Play & Pray* time. Creativity based on just being present in the moment. Having no agenda or direction. No goal to “finish it.” Not even “practicing” a specific thing.
Just Creative Freedom—for restoration! Just grabbing whatever supplies are at hand, that you’re drawn to, and putting them on a page. A slow, quiet, meditative time. A time of prayer. A time of reflecting on God’s Word. A time of sorting through what’s happening in God’s World. A time of letting thoughts and feelings pour onto the page in colors, shapes, and textures.
This page began as just neurographic drawing, with no direction except to calm the chaos. To focus on what God has to say, not the screaming world around us. It artistically just developed from there. Layer upon layer.
Sometimes direction will come as you work. But it’s not the goal. Mostly, you just stop, at any point. You’re done—for now.
It may be in the “messy middle”—when it’s just “ugly art”. It may be after just “bare beginnings”—when you’ve only put down a few strokes, that look like nothing yet and then you’re stuck. It may be “far from finished”, getting there but needing something to pull it together, a focal point—that just isn’t clear yet. But you just move on. It may be moving on to working on a different page, a different soul-care activity, or…
Restorative creativity is just like the restoration of our souls. It is an ongoing transformation. Not a sit down once and get it done, finished product. Both our life restoration, healing, and our restorative/healing creativity will go through many stages,
bare beginnings—where it looks like nothing’s happening but you’re stuck after the first small steps,
messy middles—where it’s gotten ugly and you think it was better before you did that last step,
far from finished—where there’s been a lot of work and it’s coming along, but there isn’t full focus of what it’s going to be.
Soul-transforming, restorative creativity is just like life. It is a journey! A beauty from ashes transformation—that is many times two steps forward, one step back.
And that’s ok! It’s more than ok. It’s the way life—and art—happen.
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Living Coram Deo & freely whole
SDG!
~ Liberty—Life Restoration & Soul Transforming Creativity Coach
Empowering you to live a life that is Freely Whole—spirit, soul, and body—in Jesus!
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