{"id":1670,"date":"2024-05-29T15:29:44","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T19:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/?p=1670"},"modified":"2024-05-29T15:41:15","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T19:41:15","slug":"1670","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/?p=1670","title":{"rendered":"Only Create"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dearest Readers,<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly create\u201d is a loving rip-off of E.M. Forster<\/a>\u2019s famous quote, \u201cOnly connect.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been devouring all things Forster lately, re-reading his well-known novels (Where Angels Fear to Tread, Room with a View, Howard\u2019s End<\/em>) and discovering his lesser-known ones (The Longest Journey<\/em>); exploring his science-fiction and fantasy short stories (who knew?) and re-watching film adaptations (A Passage to India<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Forster was so, so brilliant. Much of his work is about rejecting convention in order to live passionately. His characters alternately ignore and drink in life\u2019s beauty. \u201cOnly connect\u201d was his command for living. Drop pretense. Wake up to your deepest self.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019ve used Forster\u2019s quote \u201conly connect\u201d as a descriptor for my work in many a grant-proposal, I\u2019m changing it to \u201conly create\u201d because creating has been helping me to feel good about myself lately and who doesn\u2019t need a self-esteem boost in these times of posting and posing and comparing\/despairing?<\/p>\n

\n

Creation is the antidote.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In a recent blog<\/a> about \u201cPeace as an Everyday Practice\u201d, I quoted a friend who\u2019d said, \u201cPeace is not the opposite of war, creation is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because creating is life-affirming and life-giving.<\/p>\n

I often avoid being creative because the inner critic is telling me, \u201cYou suck, don\u2019t bother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or if I do manage to muster the courage to create something new, fear will jump in to stop me. \u201cIt\u2019s not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

I want (and need) the self-confidence that comes when I let creativity reign therefore ignoring the voices of dissent and walking through my fear has become an essential practice.<\/p>\n

Last year, I wanted to create a painting of a photo of me sleeping curled up with my blankie at age three. I was terrified because I\u2019d never really painted a portrait like that before and didn\u2019t think I would succeed. But I wanted to try.<\/p>\n

I started the painting and struggled. I procrastinated. When I did work on it I\u2019d end up in the worst mood. It made me so angry!<\/p>\n

\n

Perfectionism, the creativity killer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I realized needed help and signed up for a painting class. I practiced and got better. By letting go of the need to \u201cget it right\u201d and allowing the paint to teach me, I finished the painting<\/a> and submitted it to a juried art show. Much to my delight, the painting was accepted.<\/p>\n

The painting will soon hang in a gallery with the work of other artists and that is a big deal for me. But more importantly, I feel good about myself<\/em>. And if you live with low self-esteem like I do, that is the bigger deal.<\/p>\n

If you are one of those people who says, \u201cI don\u2019t have a creative bone in my body\u201d then listen closely: that is a lie you have been telling yourself.<\/p>\n

Because I\u2019ve witnessed you making a collage and discovering you have a knack for it. I\u2019ve seen you do improv and find out you\u2019re a natural clown. I\u2019ve noticed the way you dance. I\u2019ve watched you plant your garden. Cook a meal. Write a letter.<\/p>\n

Being creative doesn\u2019t mean you know how to draw! Being creative means you let the Creative Force that is animating our bodies and fuelling our imaginations create something, anything, through<\/em> you.<\/p>\n

So drown out the inner critic and persevere. Allow<\/em> creativity to come through. Generate some good feelings for and about yourself.<\/p>\n

Only create!<\/p>\n

With love and blessings,<\/p>\n

Celia<\/p>\n

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

~ E.M. Forster<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dearest Readers, \u201cOnly create\u201d is a loving rip-off of E.M. Forster\u2019s famous quote, \u201cOnly connect.\u201d I\u2019ve been devouring all things Forster lately, re-reading his well-known novels (Where Angels Fear to Tread, Room with a View, Howard\u2019s End) and discovering his lesser-known ones (The Longest Journey); exploring his science-fiction and fantasy short stories (who knew?) and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[291,1079,1040,1080,839,1081,910],"class_list":["post-1670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-art-of-self-care","tag-creativity","tag-inner-critic","tag-loving-yourself","tag-perfectionism","tag-perseverance","tag-spiritual-journey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1670"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1676,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1670\/revisions\/1676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celiamcbride.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}