Recovery is a creative process, as life is. We have a white canvas set before us. Rachel Hagstrog from the Grit and Grace Project describes this beautifully in her article, “My Life is a Canvas, God is the Painter.”
So, we have this blank slate and maybe a few colors—what are we going to create?
For a lot of my life, I didn’t think I had any agency or choice; I felt like everything was just happening to me. This is a scary way to live and sadly, not unusual. Many women and men and folkx like me have experienced something in their past that might take away this part of ourselves, the choosing part.
Recovery over time has helped me get this back.
Living a creative recovery is a part of the larger creative process that is living my life. Today, I love being able to recognize those things I can control and those things I can’t (shout out to the Serenity Prayer, here); the times I have choice and those times when I need to lean into my community and my faith to help me stand firm against something that doesn’t feel quite right or something that doesn’t line up with my values.
Today, creative recovery for me is about more than doing creative things that I enjoy like writing, painting with my kiddos, playing guitar (even if my dog does hide under the bed when I do), although it is certainly a part of it and let’s celebrate that, too! Creative Recovery is about trusting in the agency that I have. Today, I can be a part of the shaping of my life. The paper and pen might be set before me, but what I write on the page can be up to me. No matter what might have happened to me in the past, recovery ensures that today is a new day. We can start writing a new chapter any time. God is in the business of creating—and we can join Him there.
While certainly, there are things beyond my control (thanks to the state of the world for reaffirming this daily), I do have the power to choose certain things about my life and how I am going to live it. I can also get creative with my Higher Power, my God, though the sunsets I try to paint are never quite like His.
This month, I’d love to invite the Bright Story Shine community to think about the concept of CREATIVITY. How do you connect with the concept of creativity? What are some practical ways you like to get the creative juices flowing?
Send me some words, a poem, a picture of your art or a short video and I’d love to share your creativity with the Bright Story Shine community!
Anyone interested in participating in creativity workshops for writers or other creators who want some accountability around setting a vision for a more creative recovery in 2021? Let me know if this is something you'd like to explore.
Looking forward to getting creative with you all this month and as always, I can't wait to hear your bright story.
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