Created to Create

I have recently come to one simple conclusion: WE WERE CREATED TO CREATE. This year has been quite a different year for me. It started out like any other, with the usual variety of New Year's Resolutions: work out more, stay focused, don’t get lazy—you know the drill. However, one small concession has made all the difference in my life this year, in terms of sheer happiness “bang-for-the-buck.” Here it is:

I gave myself permission to create.

Simple right? One might think so, especially given that I am a professional musician, producer, and business owner—creating should naturally come with the territory, which to a point, it does. However, I must confess, I have had this one pesky, persistent problem with creating:

I simply enjoy it too much to allow myself to do it.

Wait—what?! You enjoy it “too much to allow yourself to do it?” What the heck is wrong with you?

I know. Believe me, I still sometimes ask myself the same question. However, allow me to explain.

When we are young and have nothing but time to spare, we feel like we can do whatever we want to do. Especially if it involves fun. In fact, when we are young, we generally only want to do things if they are fun. If not, we simply cry, throw a fit, whatever.

But not when we are “mature, responsible adults.” Once we cross the mystical threshold of adulthood and assume the full weight of grown-up responsibility, things change.

I changed.

For YEARS, I fell into the mind-trap of thinking that it would be a foolish waste of time to spend my days doing enjoyable things like playing guitar, writing music, inventing, or writing books. I should be doing something more “responsible,” like paying bills, working on spreadsheets, making phone calls, running errands, something—anything more “grown-up.”

To a point, I believe this thinking is not only correct, but vitally necessary. There comes a time when we all need to grow up and be willing pay the price to assume responsibility for ourselves and our families. I, however, had carried this line of thought to its extreme and was consistently shaming myself for receiving any sort of personal enjoyment from creative activities so long as my business needed to grow or my family’s financial standing needed improvement. I allowed myself no pleasure, no life-line, no respite from the relentless, never-ending line of tasks that inevitably tend to fill whatever sized-container of time one allots for them.

As a result, I was dying on the vine. At least, the creative parts of me were.

Now for the good part. I am so incredibly grateful to say that, today, things have changed.

At the beginning of this year, I allotted specific blocks of time in each day which were solely dedicated to performing enjoyable tasks such as: practicing music, writing, and just creating in general. These “personal enjoyment times” were built into my daily and weekly schedules in such a way so as to not interfere with work time, family time, or any other important obligation. And here is the best part:

It has actually worked.

I have gotten to create on a near-daily basis and I have to say, I didn’t realize what I was missing out on! I have literally been 300% happier. I feel personally fulfilled. On a deep level, I seem centered; like my life is on the right track moving forward towards the future. Wow, what more could one ask for?

It was as if I had been holding my breath for the last few years but am now drawing in deep, powerful breaths of desperately-needed oxygen, my cells flooded with life-giving purpose and energy.

This whole experience has cost me little more than a decision. The decision to allow myself to be the creative genius that God has created me to be and to let that genius come out to play.

I hope to share more of my creations with you in the near future, all of which are sure to come out here through our website. To stay up-to-date on any future releases, I recommend subscribing to our email list here.

I simply hope that you too can experience the joy of giving yourself permission to enjoy the gifts that God has placed inside of you; to relax, have some fun, and live a little. Life is, after all, what you decide it will be.