To you, this may look like a piece of scrap paper–waiting to be relegated to a pile of equally scrappy discards. However, this… This, is why I create. You see, last night Husband found this in our oldest boy's skinny jeans. It laid flat, precisely folded into a tiny paper airplane. Apparently, it is a drawing of the world–which obviously would fly up into outerspace to join its planet cousins.
In a moment of encouragement that almost made me cry at the enormity of life, my husband said with a grin, "My child doesn't make things like this. Your child does this." He went on to explain that he had noticed that the things and the ways I create have been rubbing off on our four year old. Husband had been observing that our guy loves to draw, and write, and make small things. The display and archiving of his creations is almost as important as the creating itself. He loves to admire what he makes, taking pictures for the future, making piles of his drawings to not forget the past. When he wants to show someone that they are loved, he draws them. He makes a four year old's facsimile of the person, highlighting the good parts that he sees.
Husband, in a way that reminds me we fit together just so, spoke words that urged me on in this crazy life. He said, "I love that you create. And, a child who just had me as a parent wouldn't do these things. You bring that to our family, and I can tell the way you pattern your days is having an effect on our boys. I am excited about the things they are absorbing just from spending their days with you."
See. That? That takes the pressure off of getting things done. Running all harried to and fro, making sure that they are well this and good that. Sure, I want them to be well disciplined and have good habits. Sure, I want to make sure they are ready for kindergarten and with a longer lens…adulthood. But, this exchange reminds me that they will absorb those things because of the life we lead everyday, not because of structured object lessons.
Create. Create because it is important to those around you. Create because creating itself is vitality. Whether you are painting, snapping portraits, writing a masterpiece, cooking a meal, filming an epic…whatever it is. Just create.