We Are All Creative Souls … All Born With Infinite Potential
We are all born with infinite potential; something I heard from a friend many years ago and I find my happy place when I am writing, or when I am walking in nature with the family; with the children; listening to music.
In a place of grief, where my heart is sore and shattered into a million pieces after the loss of our beautiful son, Ben to childhood cancer, I find myself buffeted by the waves of loss, searching for landscape, somewhere safe to put my feet down, as I find myself simply treading water to survive each day.
Living without one of our beloved children is almost too much for the human heart to bear some days. On darker days, I allow myself to fall into my heartbreak, just to see how far the drop might be. I have realised that I fall into space; into an abyss, a void of spiritual connection and release. I am no longer afraid of the world and all it brings crashing to my shores, for I have faced the most inexplicable, frightening reality of living without one of my children and it has proven to be one of life’s greatest struggles of the heart.
It is a separation from my own sense of being, of life, of hope and faith that I welcome, because as hard and heartbreaking it is for me, I am no longer afraid of anything. I have changed and I see that my living children have, too. Their childhood has been irrevocably altered beyond anything you could imagine. Being one of three is all they have ever known and to be a man down, for us, for them, is soul destroying.
And yet, with the courage and strength of character and the wit of their brother, they show an enduring spirit of love, determination and tenacity, the likes of which I have never seen, but I am so proud to witness.
I notice the way our daughters gravitate to creativity like a safety net. They find solace in art, music, films, nature, being with our animals and our eldest finds her equilibrium with horses.
I am married to a fine musician in James. We have music in our home and in our lives as part of our existence. It’s been the fabric of our life as a family of five and continues to tap out the rhythm of our lives moving forward.
Creativity brings us our most profound memories and experiences in life, alongside love and grief.
Humanity as a whole connects through creativity and when I look at the world, all I see is the beauty and the magic that nature and humanity can create through artistic expression.
In recent times, speaking with my sister, a creative herself; an illustrator, artist and writer and by profession, an Event Manager, I see how creativity has shaped her life, like so many others. What we have both seen, along with my husband, is the value in connection through creativity, the vibrancy of a tribal thread, invisible to the naked eye, yet something that links us all by the power of live events, festivals, music, outdoor broadcasts, gatherings of almost any kind, a joint moment of togetherness, hope, focus and magic …. It’s something so integral to our sense of being, but is steadily being lost in our daily lives due to current circumstances, but actually, for all the wrong reasons.
Creativity is life blood to so many and life force for others. It brings about stability, memories, connection, a joint experience. As a creative onlooker to what is happening to creativity right under our noses, right now, I feel it is time to join the many voices crying out to be heard, for all the right reasons and stand up for all those profound experiences we have enjoyed in our lives and to bring about a creative uprising for change for the better.
Take your paintbrushes, your words, your songs, your lyrics, use your hands, your hearts and your voices and create, create, create. Find a way, a route … like love and grief, put one foot in front of the other, be open to the energy of life and creativity and you will find the path is lighting up ahead of you and change will come about for the good of humanity.
Create … create … create