An Unexpected Gift...creativity is in us all.
Self- Acceptance…is where it starts
My stepdad was one of the most important people in my life and he left an impression on me that will live with me and everyone whose life I touch forever. Why? Because he encouraged me to be uniquely ME. Especially in his last several years on earth, he grew into my favorite source of wisdom. He had devoted the last fifteen years of his life serving as a sponsor in AA. This twelve step program had taught him patience, tolerance, love and self-acceptance among many other things. We routinely had nice long talks on his front porch on Sunday afternoons and he would read from his little black book or some other book he liked and would share things he wanted me to think about. I loved who he had become and reveled in the care of a father who loved me unconditionally and stayed in my life long beyond the life of his marriage to my mom. Though imperfect in many ways when we were growing up, he had changed so much it was remarkable and he had become an inspiration to me about how I want to live my “giving back years” in the twilight of my own life. I was fascinated by what had made him so kind and generous. I wanted to find the peace he had found. I wanted to be the gift he had become to so many of those he sponsored. He had numerous ailments and plenty of reasons to complain, but he never did. I believe he found joy in those years…joy in giving to others.
So, during these treasured years, I listened and learned. I accepted his love and yearned for every story and bit of wisdom I could glean from his life for my own. And basking in this gift…I found myself.
The Discovery
When my stepdad died, he left us only sentimental things and that was all I wanted anyway. In my little box were a few precious things that I treasure because they were things he treasured. His miniature mother-of-pearl cribbage board. His collection of short stories about growing up in the racially divided deep south. His little black AA book full of daily wisdoms (his handwriting expressing ruminations in the margins) and a framed quote that says simply…“The world of creation is finished and the original of all things lies within man”. I have often wondered why he left me this particular quote… but this week, I discovered why. You see, since his passing, I have been busy. Very busy, in fact. So busy bringing something creative into the world that I have almost missed my ordinary life for the last six years. Is that how long he has been gone, I wonder? Maybe he knew I had something important to create. Maybe he didn’t. In any case, I did put that quote in my office and I look at it often. Today, I know that creativity is my unique opportunity. It is for everyone. If the Divine lies within all of us, is it not our role to unearth it? Birth it? Share it? Develop it? Gift it?
The completion of creation is our job.
Today I am at peace again, having birthed the thing that needed to be born from my creative energy. It nearly killed me, it’s true. The focus and drive that it took to unlock the mysteries is now fully spent. The hard part of the work is done and it is so gloriously perfect that I can’t imagine that it came through my meager efforts. But having committed to it completed me. My chore and duty fulfilled, I can now relax into the next phase of work to take the creation into practice. That part of the creative process will be the longest, but can be done with an easier pace now that the core product is done. A job well done offers satisfaction like no other I have known. It feels good.
What’s your role and unique genius?
So now I am curious about what creative output can come from my clients? What is their destiny? How can I help them choose the path of unfolding their innermost genius? How can I help them through the hard parts when they want to quit? How can I be a mirror for them as they find new ways to appreciate themselves? And most importantly, how can I ignite the process that we are all responsible to?
…The World of Creation is finished…and the original of all things lies within man…