Ghia – Think you aren’t creative? Think again. You are a daughter of the most creative being in the Universe. If you doubt this, do three things—let go of comparison, be kind to yourself, and get curious.

Hooray Kia here.

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I'm this week's host of the Creative

Spiritual Journey podcast where Judy and I

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talk about those things that bring us joy.

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For me, I find joy by connecting

with nature, connecting with Jesus

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Christ and our heavenly parents.

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Seasonal living, and all the bits of magic

and wonder I come across while navigating

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this remarkable journey we call life.

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I.

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When I was thinking about what I wanted

my podcast to be about this week, I had

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the idea of talking about the elements of

our name, the Creative Spiritual Journey.

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It's kind of a quirky title,

the creative, spiritual journey.

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What does that mean?

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To be honest, Judy and I came up

with it because we were trying to get

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a URL for a website and everything

we wanted was already taken.

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So we started putting together anything

we could think of, and these three

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words just came together for us,

but it wasn't completely arbitrary.

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Each word has something Judy and I

had been working on or talking about

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together a couple of weeks ago.

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I talked about the spirit body connection,

the spirit and the body equaling the soul.

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I think that podcast covers my

ideas about the word spirit.

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I suppose if I had thought about it at

the time, I would've suggested naming

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our podcast, the Creative Soul journey.

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Hmm.

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Or the creative soulful journey.

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Well, I suppose.

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Neither of those sound

good, but you get my point.

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This creative journey we are on is for

the body and the spirit as they are

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joined together in this mortal existence

and how they will be for eternity,

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which is why it's so important that

we learn how to use them together.

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So sometime over the next few months,

I will give you my ideas about the word

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journey, which means that today I thought

I would focus on the word creative

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Sometime in the future, Judy May do

a similar podcast, which will be fun

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because while our thoughts will likely

overlap, I am sure they will also be

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very different, which my friends is the

beginning of my podcast on creativity.

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Each of us is similar, but

very different, and that is the

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magic and wonder of creativity.

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So let's talk about what

it means to be creative.

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Judy happens to be a fabulous

artist and wonderful painter.

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Me, I can barely draw a stick figure,

which of course means I'm not creative.

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Right?

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Do you believe that's true?

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Well, I can assure you, my

brain believes it's true.

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And I distinctly remember when I made

this decision, I was in the fourth grade.

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at the time I thought I

was pretty good at drawing.

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In fact, I might have gone so far as

to think I was the best in the class.

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Then a new kid showed up and I

remember being outside, sitting on

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the grass and having the teacher

ask us to draw our schoolhouse.

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I was working away when a

classmate mentioned that the new

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kids drawing was pretty good.

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I got up to see for myself.

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They were right.

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In fact, he wasn't pretty good.

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He was really good.

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He could draw in perspective

while my building was flat.

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And you know what?

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I sat back down and decided

I wasn't good at drawing.

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End of story.

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That's it.

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I never believed I was

good at drawing again.

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This opinion was formed in my brain

because I compared myself to someone else.

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O comparison, it is a creativity killer.

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I want you to remember the C word

comparison because I'm going to

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come back to it in a few minutes.

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Now, here is where my

story gets interesting.

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My brain has decided I can't draw.

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This is a thought my

brain is holding onto.

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It has become my belief, but as much

as my brain wants to hold onto this

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thought that I can't draw, another

part of me knows it isn't true.

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Here's why.

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Somewhere I got the idea that

it was good to practice drawing

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with your non-dominant hand.

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It's supposed to strengthen the

neurological connections between

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the left and right hemisphere of

your brain or something like that.

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I don't actually remember the details,

but I decided to give it a try.

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I picked a folk art drawing off

Pinterest, not a masterpiece, something

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simple, and I began copying it with

colored pencils into a sketchbook.

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With my left hand.

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I'm right-handed, right?

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Obviously this was incredibly awkward and

the drawing only had a rough resemblance

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to the original, but you know what?

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When I was done, I thought, wow, that

wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

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In fact, that's pretty

good for my left hand.

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What did you hear?

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What I just said?

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I said my drawing was pretty

good when I used my left hand.

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I could be kinder to myself.

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Isn't that interesting?

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I had a complete change of thought

there wasn't any expectation for

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my left hand, so anything was good.

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Crazy, huh?

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So I told you this whole drawing story

because I'm betting all of us have

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had some form of this experience.

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We all make comparisons and

judge ourselves accordingly.

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But my left-handed drawing experience

has taught me a lot about the

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power of being kind to myself.

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We need to be really kind.

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I would never talk to someone else

the way I sometimes talk to myself.

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Having expectations and beating myself

does not help me be a better artist,

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but loving myself certainly does.

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So that's one point, but let's keep going.

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My belief is that being able to draw or

some other artistic pursuit is only a

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small part of what it means to be creative

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And is only a small part of how I

would define the word creative in

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the creative spiritual journey.

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Now, I don't think I could talk about

creativity without quoting Elder Udo,

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he said The desire to create is one of

the deepest yearnings of the human soul.

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No matter our talents, education,

background, or abilities, we each

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have an inherent wish to create

something that didn't exist before.

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Everyone can create.

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You don't need money, position,

or influence in order to create

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something of substance or beauty.

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You might say, I'm not the creative type.

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If that's how you feel, think again and

remember that you are a spirit daughter of

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the most creative being in the universe.

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End quote.

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Do you believe that?

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Of course we believe God is creative.

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We only have to look around

the world to see that.

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But does that really mean

that each of us is creative?

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Of course we are.

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We can't read more than the first book

of the Bible before learning that.

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Genesis 1 27 says, so God created man

in his own image, in the image of God

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created he, him, male and female, created.

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He them.

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Hmm.

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That only says we were created in God's

image that we have as a appearance.

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Right.

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But that's not it.

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The Book of Abraham

gives more clarification.

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It says, let us go down and form

man in our image after our likeness.

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So we don't just have the

image of our heavenly parents.

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We are like them.

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As President Udo said, we are

spirit children of the most

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creative being in the universe.

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If we are like them, then of

course we are creative as well.

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Now, let me add this from Doctrine

and Covenants 46 for all have not

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every gift given unto them for there

are many gifts and to every man is

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given a gift by the spirit of God.

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To some is given one and

to some is given another.

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That all may be profited, thereby.

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okay.

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So believe it or not, we are all

given gifts and we are all creative.

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What does this mean?

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Let's talk about some creative women.

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We all know.

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How about Esther?

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Would you ever have thought

about Esther being creative?

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The scriptures don't say she could

draw or paint, but think about it.

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She used her position as Queen

to creatively strategize and save

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her people from a genocidal plot.

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She risked her life on that creativity

by going uninvited before the king,

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leading to the salvation of her people.

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Want another one?

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How about Miriam, the sister of Moses?

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She showed creativity when

she saved her baby brother.

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It was her creative thinking that

led to Moses being cared for by

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his own mother, while also being

raised by Pharaoh's daughter.

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So let me explain what

I think is interesting.

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For the first part of our lives,

there is a map of expectations.

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When you were in third grade,

you didn't have to think about

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what you were going to do next.

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It was all laid out the next year you

were going into fourth grade, right?

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And then you're going to go on to high

school and maybe college, or you will get

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your first apartment and a job, and then

maybe you would get married and have kids.

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of course there is some variation

in this map, but there is at least

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a rough outline of expectations.

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Then what happens?

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We hit middle age, what Judy and

I call our wisdom years and the

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map ends, there is nothing left

except retirement and death.

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Maybe some babysitting of

grandchildren and a cruise, but we

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are basically dropped off in the

wilderness with no map to follow.

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This is where we as women

have coined a new phrase.

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We have the opportunity, the

grand, wonderful opportunity

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to find our life purpose.

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we have been taught that in order to be

fulfilled, we must find this purpose.

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Now, if this phrase works

for you, that's great.

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I don't mean to belittle it, but

for me it's a complete disaster.

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My purpose, I have to find my purpose.

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What if I can't find it?

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I mean, where is it and how do I

know when I have found the right one?

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If I go off in the wrong

direction, could I miss it?

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And if I miss my purpose, then

what am I going to be miserable

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for the rest of my life?

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It seems too heavy and

massive of a responsibility.

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but here are the words I heard

from life coach and podcaster.

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Jody Moore.

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She said, don't worry

about finding your purpose.

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Just do something rewarding

and fulfilling right now.

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Ah, doesn't that feel like

a weight off your chest?

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We don't have to find our life purpose.

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We simply have to find something

rewarding and fulfilling.

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and do it.

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Now, I know this isn't necessarily as

easy as it sounds because as women we

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often get so busy taking care of others

that we lose touch with our desires.

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Seriously.

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Think about it.

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Do you ever have trouble

deciding what you really want?

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If this is the case, let me offer you

another C word that goes hand in hand

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with creativity, and that is curiosity.

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Creativity and curiosity are two

powerful forces that fuel our desires.

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Curiosity is the spark that

drives us to ask questions and

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explore the world around us.

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It pushes us to seek understanding,

challenges, assumptions, and

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to die deeper into the unknown.

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Without curiosity, we would remain

stagnant, unable to discover

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new possibilities or grow.

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Let me share with you three women

who weren't looking for their life

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purpose, But we're merely curious

about what was going on around

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them and what they had to offer.

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These are only three of thousands

of women I could have chosen from.

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The first is Marguerite Eloise Knight in

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manufacturing plant, Marguerite saw some

limitations of the existing paper bags.

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They were flat and

didn't hold their shape.

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She envisioned a new kind of

paper bag with a square bottom,

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Allowing it to stand up more

easily and carry heavier items.

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Marguerite not only developed

this idea, but also designed

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a machine to produce the bags.

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I.

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In 1971, Marguerite attempted

to patent her design.

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Unfortunately, her patent was contested

by a male colleague who attempted to

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steal her creation, but Marguerite

successfully defended her right in court.

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Hooray.

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That was a huge win for a woman in 1971.

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Next I want to share the story

of Marie Anderson while living in

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New York City during the winter of

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drivers had difficulty seeing

through the icy snow covered windows.

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Inspired by this problem, Anderson

designed a manual lever operated

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wiper that could clean the windshield.

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The device consisted of a rubber blade

attached to a spring loaded arm that

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could be activated by the driver,

although initially rejected by automakers.

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Years later, Anderson's windshield

wipers became used by everyone.

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last, let me tell you the

story of Betty Graham.

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In the 1950s while working as a

secretary in a bank, she got frustrated

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as she tried to cover typing mistakes.

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So she went home and in her kitchen,

began experimenting with craft

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paint and other household supplies.

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In the end, she developed liquid paper.

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Using her own savings.

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She started a business and sold

the product from her home until

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it became so popular that she sold

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I love these stories of creative women.

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None of them had any idea what they were

going to do when they started, which

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makes me so happy because it means I

don't have to know what I am doing.

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My only goal is to keep

moving forward with curiosity.

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Sounds great, doesn't it?

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But here's the truth.

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Do you recall the first C word I asked

you to remember the word comparison?

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It's so easy for me to compare myself

to these women and say, I will never

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get a patent or invent something useful.

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So what's the point?

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Do you see how my brain has

looped around to where I started?

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Well, let me give you a quick recap

of what I've been talking about.

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We are all on a creative,

spiritual journey.

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We are all, each one of us creative

because we are daughters of the most

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creative beings in the universe.

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And if knowing this doesn't

make you believe you are

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creative, then do three things.

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Let go of comparison.

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Be kind to yourself, really kind

to yourself, and get curious.

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Easy, right?

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Oh, just kidding.

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I am not sure anything in life is easy,

but I have decided to deliberately seek

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creative opportunities and see what comes,

which is why Judy and I have created

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this podcast so that together we can

cultivate our creative God-like natures.

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Changing our habits isn't easy.

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Learning to be kind to

ourselves isn't easy.

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Identifying the next step on the journey

isn't easy, but no one said it would be.

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Thankfully, we aren't in this alone.

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Which is the heart of this podcast.

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We are all on this earth learning to

walk beside our savior, Jesus Christ.

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He is here to teach us that growth

requires patience, persistence, and faith.

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Every challenge is an opportunity

to become more like him.

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This earth life is our challenge to

embrace our full potential and stretch

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beyond what we thought possible.

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As all of us take small steps forward,

we not only transform ourselves, but we

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also have the opportunity to transform the

world in ways we have not yet imagined.

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That is the power of creativity.

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Judy and I know that your time is

precious and that you have many choices.

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We love that you have chosen to

walk with us for a few minutes as

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we navigate this journey of life.

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If you like this podcast, will you take

the time right now to share it with a

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friend, share it somewhere on social

media, or leave us a five star rating.

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Your effort will help the podcast make

a bigger impact in the world, and we'll

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tell Judy and me that you like our show

and give us the motivation to keep going.

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Thank you in advance for your help.

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let me close with a few

more words from Elder Udo.

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The more you trust and rely

upon the spirit, the greater

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your capacity to create.

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That is your opportunity in this life

and your destiny in the life to come.

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Namaste.