I have been doing a lot of gardening lately. Indoors I have been planting seeds excitedly waiting for them to germinate, sprout and grow.  Outdoors I have been preparing the soil: getting rid of weeds,  supplementing the soil, preparing the bed.  I check on what I’ve planted daily; pots of soil, with seeds yet to germinate and sprout as well as tiny sprouts and little seedlings.

Disappointment sometimes visits my little nursery: some seeds are slower to germinate, some never germinate at all, and some sprout, wilt and die before I can do anything.  I have learned over years of doing this not to become discouraged, but rather to focus my efforts on those seeds that do take.

If you know anything about planting from seeds, you know that on the seed pack it tells you when to plant indoors for the season  the seed pack also tells you the rate of germination not just how long it will take to germinate but also the percentage of seeds you can expect to germinate. Not all seeds germinate you see, no matter how much you nurture it and provide it with the right environment. Some seeds just don’t take.

What does this have to do with creativity?

Well, we are all creative you see, but we have different seeds of creativity within ourselves.  Some will germinate and grow given the right environment, and some will be slower to grow.  Each seed contains within it the potential to grow into a strong entity, but it cannot do this without being nurtured and cared for.  With my garden, a certain amount of consistency is needed: if I forget to water it regularly it can weaken the plants if not destroy them.  If I don’t provide the right amount of sunshine and the right nutrients in the soil they will not be as healthy and will be susceptible to pests.

Our creativity also needs to be nurtured and given the time to blossom.  We need to put regular time aside to create, and provide it with the tools it needs to express, in a safe environment of acceptance, protected from the pests otherwise know as of inner-critics.

There have been some creative endeavours which I have tried and seemed to fail miserably, however, looking back I see that those seeds never germinated for a reason; either the environment was not right at the time or this just was not for me, and was never meant to germinate.

It has taken me years to learn the intricacies of growing a strong garden of vegetables.  And I am still learning.  But it is my persistence and passion about this process which is pays off.  Our creativity needs the same kind of  loving commitment: we need to believe it is worth it or we will not bother to give it what it needs, we need to be consistent or it won’t have the strength to grow and we need to give it the right space it needs to grow or it won’t even germinate to begin with.  It takes patience. If you rush the process or expect too much all at once, discouragement will set in and you will forget to continue to nurture your creativity and allow the pests of self-doubt to take over.

Let me repeat: the seeds need to be nurtured and given the right conditions in order to germinate and eventually grow. The seeds are not the planted by others, we already have them within us, our job is to provide the right setting to allow creative potential to grow. Not all seeds will grow. Each seed does better under certain conditions.  If I plant beans out now they would not survive the cold but peas in the other hand thrive in cold weather. There is still no guarantee that each pea will sprout. I can only provide the right conditions for it to reach its potential.  So how does one provide the right environment for creativity to flourish?   Join me next week as I share some ways to nurture and support one’s creativity.

Looking for some ways to nurture and support your creativity? Join me online or in person for Art Journaling.  Click below to find out more!