I should be writing the novel, not writing in this journal. I should be writing to share in the blog, not writing for myself. But wait — I am writing. And both those sentences began, “I should be writing.”
In one of my favorite films, a dying man tells the hero, “I don’t care what you believe — just believe.”
That would be my final words to would-be writers and would-be creators: I don’t care what you write — just write. I don’t care what you create — just create.
We are creative souls, you and I, and so we are empty when we are not creating.
I know I repeat myself with this statement, but it bears endless repeating: God created the heavens and the Earth, and then created humans in God’s image. Ergo, we are creators, because we were created in the image of the Ultimate Creator.
Now, somehow a destructive streak was snuck into the mix, but I’m telling you, when we create, when we build, when we make something out of thin air or out of the materials at hand, we are fulfilling our basic nature. You feel it when you make a meal, when you hammer two boards together, when you compose and important email, or when you pave a road: You are a creation designed to be a creator.
When we destroy, or tear down, or blow up, or demolish without reason or cause, we violate our very purpose. That’s why war is such a stupid thing. It solves nothing and is the opposite of why we are here.
The best advice is to strive every day to leave this place in better condition than we found it. We accomplish this in the act of creation.
Get out there and create something today.