Creativity and a Life Well Lived

By Basel

It is said that God created man in His image and likeness. This could possibly be taken to mean, among other things, that God has bestowed man with at least some of His attributes in potential form, which makes us potentially like Him in some way or ways.

There is a reason why God has blessed us with some of His attributes in potential form—so that we might transform this potential into actuality, in this way expressing these attributes we have been blessed with in and through our lives. Enkindling and growing in our reflection of the attributes that God has blessed us with can be said to be a major component of a life well lived. The more clearly and intensely we reflect these attributes by the sort of person we become and the way we lead our life and the things we do with it, the closer we come to being more godly, though of course we can never become God ourselves.

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God is the Creator of all that exists, and creativity (defined here as the ability to make or do something new) is one of His attributes that He has blessed us with in potential form. Converting this potential into actuality by becoming creative persons ourselves can be seen as an integral part of what it means to lead a truly purposeful life (There are, of course, different ways one can be creative. Someone can even use their God-given capacity for being creative for negative purposes. By ‘creative’ is here meant using the attribute of creativity that God has blessed us with in a wholesome manner, in line with God’s Will and purposes).

God, the Creator, wants us, His children, to be creative in line with His will and purposes, and the more we are so, the closer we grow in reflecting God in our lives. Creativity that is put to use for ends that God approves of and wants us to pursue is thus an integral part of a life truly well lived.

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Throughout our lives, each of us gets numerous opportunities to become creative in this way, but not all of us make use of these opportunities or are even aware of their existence. Many of us simply don’t want to be creative in this manner, to put to good use the potential of creativity that God has blessed each one of us with. This could be for many different reasons, including wrong priorities, unnecessary distractions, sloth, inertia, diffidence, and preferring ease to effort.

By missing out on opportunities to develop the potential for creativity we have been blessed with we lose out on precious chances to grow as persons. Many of us would rather take advantage of the products of other people’s creativity than becoming creative persons ourselves by engaging in the task of converting our potential for being creative into actuality, this being something that generally demands at least some effort on our part. Thus, for instance, someone might be a great sports fan and addicted to watching sports programmes on TV but is too lazy to participate in a game themselves. Someone else might love reading books but might never put themselves to writing even a short essay or a poem that others could enjoy. A person might be a great music buff but might never have thought of learning to play an instrument or to train their voice to sing or to compose a song that others might delight in. Someone else might buy the latest gadgets but might never have thought of inventing something themselves that can be of help to others. People with much time on their hands might prefer to while away hours on end every day glued to their smartphones or sleeping or watching movies rather than using their time in creative ways that truly add value to their life and that of others.

All such persons make full use of products that are a result of other people’s creativity but just don’t want to or seem to feel the need to use their own God-given potential for being creative themselves. In this way, they become passive consumers, rather than active producers, often turning into a burden on the planet rather than being a blessing for it.

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Adding to the stock of goodness in the world by enkindling and nurturing our God-given gift of creativity and using it in ways that are in line with God’s will and purposes is basic to leading a life in line with the reason for which God has sent us here. By using our God-given potential for creativity in wholesome ways, each one of us can contribute to making this world a happier place to be in, and in the process, helping to fulfill the purpose of our short stay here.