Chaos to Creativity

Saturday, I attended a conference for women sponsored by our local church. There were several classes or lectures which were meant to inspire and encourage us as we took opportunities to serve and inspire others.  One which I chose to attend talked about the creative process. That was my thing! I love to create new things from something someone else had already started. My mother use to tell us always, to leave our world better than we found it.

The leader told us that when we think of creating we should start at the beginning-In Genesis.

What did God do? He found unorganized matter, chaos, and he created our world. What does this have to do with our creative powers? You should come see my studio—total chaos—unorganized matter in every corner. My husband thinks I’ve taken this too far!

Elder Robert D Hales pf the Quorem of the Twelve apostles writes;

Creativity is a Spiritual Process

"As a child growing up on Long Island, New York, Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles learned many lessons from his parents. He particularly recalls one experience when his father taught him about establishing the proper atmosphere for creativity.
“Father was a commercial artist for a large advertising agency in New York City,” Elder Hales explains. “On one occasion he was under tremendous stress to produce an advertising campaign. He had come home on a Friday evening and worked most of the night. Saturday morning, after a few hours working in the yard, he retired to his studio to create an advertising campaign for a new product.
“My sister and I found great delight in chasing each other round and round the dining room table, which was situated in a room directly over his head. He had told us to please stop at least twice, but to no avail. This time he came bounding up the steps and collared me. He sat me down and taught a great lesson. He did not yell or strike me even though he was very annoyed.
“He explained the creative process, the spiritual process, if you will, and the need for quiet pondering and getting close to the Spirit for his creativity to function. Because he took time to explain and help me understand, I learned a lesson that has been put to use almost daily in my life.”
 “We have the ability to produce creative works in our daily activities. Creativity can also be used to find solutions to everyday problems by developing new ways of approaching the problems. I have seen such creativity during my lifetime.”
Like Elder Hale’s father, we can learn to create as a spiritual process. I remember years ago being asked by the primary presidency to come up with an idea for a Primary special event. I was so tired that I asked for fifteen minutes and then I’d call them back. After a prayer, I lay down on the couch and took a nap. The whole program was laid out for me in a dream. I awoke, wrote down the program and called back. I still create in my dreams. I dream of quilting all night. I wonder if sleeping under four quilts that I made is affecting me!