Episode Summary:

I distinctly remember sitting in the back row of sixth grade art class in Jonesboro, Arkansas and saying to myself, “I am NOT CREATIVE!” I couldn’t draw a lick. While my friends brought forth beautiful sketches and lovely paintings their parents would proudly hang on the refrigerator, I looked down at my work with disdain. My parents should burn this. I am not creative.

That thought stayed with me for decades, until I realized I was in fact creative, just in different ways. I still can’t draw or paint to save my life, but I love the creative process of writing and creating meaningful conversations. Regardless of your artistic aspirations and talents, “We were created to be creators. At its deepest heart, creativity is meant to serve and evoke beauty,” writes Irish poet and seer John O’Donohue.

Creativity brings the ideal into the real. Maybe that is why Fyodor Dostoevsky proclaimed, “Beauty will save the world,” hinting that the way things currently are aren’t the way they will always be.

Whether you realize it or not, you are creative! You were born with gifts and talents that only you can give the world. The first step towards claiming this Divine inheritance is recognizing that you are a sacred, creative being. As today’s podcast guest Ally Markotich reveals, “When we claim ourselves as creators, our life becomes a creative adventure; even mundane moments become ripe with possibility for transformation.”

The mystical and often illusive creative flow weaves through every human heart. How do you capture her presence? What sparks your creative spirit? As Caitlin Matthews writes in her book The Celtic Spirit, “There are many ideas and inspirations wandering throughout the world. They seem to be shaken like stardust over everything, to be caught in handfuls by those who are ready to receive them.”

Our task as co-creators is to join God in bringing forth the beautiful future God has promised. To help us in that eternal work, I am joined on the podcast by Ally Markotich.

In this episode we discuss:

How creativity is a form of resistance to dominator agendas and beliefs

Why authoritarian leaders are terrified of artists

How to awaken your inner, creative soul

The relationship between spirituality and creativity

How seeing God in female form opens your heart to the beautiful

Why beauty matters

Bio:

Ally Markotich is an artist, poet and Creative Formation Practitioner. Ally is the creator of Soul Kindling LLC, an online creative respite where she guides her clients to express their truest colors and gently encourages their creative growth. Ally is certified as a Red Thread Guide and Intentional Creativity® Educator from Musea under the guidance of artist, Shiloh Sophia. She is certified in Spiritual Formation from Columbia Theological Seminary and is a Holy Fire Reiki Master in the tradition of Mikao Usui. As she shares, “Two of the deepest beliefs I hold are: You and I are sacred BE-ings. CREATIVITY is our birthright.”

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Show notes:

http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/created-to-create

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This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.