Do you know what today is? Besides being October 1st (holy crap!), it's "Who said that? Wednesday"! Which is my really REALLY dorky way of saying it's anonymous comment day--I've never been good with alliteration. So I want comments to the question I'm going to pose--after the quote I will post, after this explanation paragraph--because I find the many abilities of different people amazing and I want to learn more about them. Also I figure I'll get more of you to comment if I make it anonymous. Plus, this way you can talk yourselves up if you want without feeling too showy!
So here's the thought provoking quote, by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf from last weekends General Relief Society Broadcast. If you are male or not LDS, still read it and comment!
"Our birthright and the purpose of our great journey on the earth is to see and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things...You may think you don't have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts--every one of us. The balance of creativity extends far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper, and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before. Colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter. What you create doesn't have to be perfect...don't let fear of failure discourage you. Don't let the voice of critics paralyze you, whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside."
Unfortunately I am my biggest critic. I criticize things I do to no end, especially my mothering abilities. Hearing this talk encouraged me to stop listening to that voice until it goes away altogether. And it's encouraged me to beautify the world around me--there's so much ugliness out there that we all need to counteract it with our creative abilities to make our world more beautiful.
So the question is, what do you create? Or what do you wish you created more of? Or what is your favorite thing to create? Be it traditional or not, please share!
13 comments:
As I listened to this talk I kept thinking of how so many of us have the opportunity to be creaters of life. (Mothers) But, with the responsibility as a parent we also help create the kind of people our children become.
I also wish I created better or more of the things that President Uchtdorf spoke of. (Better garden, harmonious home, family memories, and flowing laughter.)
I wish I created delicious fruits in my backyard.
I LOVE to create stuff! In fact I can get so caught up in my projects that I forget to handle the daily necessities. Whether it be scrapbooking, making things for my home, BLOGGING, cooking...when I make something I feel pride in myself and feel productive. Even, working out...that counts, since you are creating a healthy body right? I really want to learn to paint/stain old furniture and make it look good again.
I LOVED this talk - made me really think about the things I want to create, too. Here are some things I've been thinking about: as a mom I feel like I create an atmosphere, a mood. I can create happy memories. I can create a nice meal for my family with a tiny bit extra effort and planning, rather than a last minute thrown-together meal with no vegetables :). I can create an hour of fun just by giving my attention and a little creativity, rather than an hour of TV watching. I can take a space that is a mess and create order. Or take a space that I dislike and make it beautiful. I can create yummy treats and share them with others. I can create a home that has a strong spirit through music and order and soothing words, rather than noise and TV and messiness and yelling. I can create a better friendship with my husband by giving him a bit more quality attention. I can create a healthy lifestyle through eating habits and exercise. I can create more friendships through serving others and reaching out more. Just a few random directions my thoughts have been going since that talk.
What about creating links with family members through family history and recording our own family history?
Preserving food...
Lisa, making your quilts...
I love creating memeories with my chlldren. We didn't have much growing up, but I had a great family. We created lots of memories just being together and going crazy, and also emphasizing the importance of being together. I also want to create more of a fabulous body. You know, a nice lean sculpted one. I definately need to work more on creating that.
As hard as it feels sometimes, as women and mothers,we decide daily what to create. We can choose to be positive and keep our eye on the big picture, or we can criticize ourselves, our children and others. We can lose sight of the vision. Whichever one we choose, we create an atmosphere in our home. Being a mom requires mistakes. How else do we do our children learn how to forgive? :)
I really appreciated President Uchtdorf's talk. It gave me a new perspective on what "creating" means. I am not the "typical" stay at home mom in that I don't really enjoy creating the things that we tend to think of: meals, scrapbooks, cards, gardens, home decor, etc. But what I do hope that I am creating is a home where my children always feel unconditional love and acceptance; a home that is a peaceful refuge from the crazy world. I hope that I'm creating unbreakable, eternal bonds of love. That's the goal. . .
Thanks for sharing! I liked all of it, but I really liked the reminder that as mothers we create a mood in our home. how true is that?
I've been thinking a lot about this talk too and about what my calling in life is outside of my most important calling of being a mother. And I think that my calling of being a mother is included in this calling, but I feel I have a calling to listen to what other people are going through and help them to gain a perspective on it, whether it's eternal or just the perspective of another person. I'm not sure what that is creating exactly or how to word that, but I know that it is something that I always have to do and it's when I feel the Spirit the strongest is when I feel a prompting to help someone see something from a new perspective, and I think that helps to create a little more beauty in that person's life and in my own. That was totally a run on sentence. Thanks for posting this, I really enjoyed that talk and have been thinking about it a lot too.
I love to create smiles in others and in my children. I want to do this more.
Hmmm. . .my favorite thing to create is yummy desserts. Not necessarily for the yumminess, but because it helps me to give to others when I don't know how else to help or how to introduce myself to someone new. I also love to create music and I think I'm good at creating a loving/accepting atmosphere wherever I am.
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