Humans have an amazing capacity to create something from nothing.  Painting, song, dance, lego worlds, sculpture, poetry, compositions, stories, plays and drawings.  No other creature can do it, no other creature obtains pleasure from making, watching and sharing.

When we create something, we go from nothing, to an idea, to a process, to a creation.  We literally make something from thin air.  We connect with the world around us by digging deep within ourselves, sometimes finding peace and calm, other times anger, chaos and difficult feelings.  But we shape and mould and reflect and fashion something that did not exist before, and in some way that leaves the world a little different.

Not everything we create is significant; arguably most seems small and inconsequential.  A cartoon drawn at break time or a minecraft building in free time is not going to change the world much.  But it may well be a stepping stone to small but significant steps of change.  Words make sentences, sentences make paragraphs, paragraphs make chapters and chapters make books.

In fact, that analogy also works when thinking about life.  If every day is a word in the book of our lives, what is my word today?  Yesterday?  Tomorrow?

When we create we learn.  We learn about ourselves, our world, who we are and what we want to be.  We learn about peace and calm and care.  We learn patience and practice and skill.  We learn about our feelings and how to express them in ways that are helpful.  

And in a world where humanity's propensity for destruction is sometimes at the fore, we all need to create more.  More fun, more art, more song, more music, more stories, more happiness and more love.

Being creative is not about being the best.  It is about a personal journey; one of hope and pleasure and what it means to be human.  We are social animals, and sharing our creations is part of that community.

Matt Shroff
Director of Wellbeing