There are many people who believe to be made in the image and likeness of God gives us permission to have dominion over the earth. After all, that is what we were told in the Book of Genesis. Manifested dominion has been experienced as an expression of power, and our right to take and mold what we can harvest.
Thankfully, most of us understand that with great power comes great responsibility. When it comes to the earth, we better understand our role as caretakers or stewards rather than masters. But when it comes to the smaller, monotonous and necessary activities of our day, we are often defined more by our consumption than our creation. These days, this consumption is displayed in the many fast food restaurants we patron during the week; as well as online shopping in the late hours of the day. However, I fear even more so by the amount of time we spend consuming information about things and people on our phones.
Even this past week the Surgeon General cautioned about the dangers of social media consumption for young adults. I cannot but wonder if fully matured adults are affected that much differently?
The remedy, I challenge, is in reawakening our innate desire to create. This is not only the dignity of our work, but the fulfillment of our soul.
To be a creative, does not mean that we must produce some great masterpiece made from the fruits of the earth. It does not mean that we are to hang up our careers and become painters, chefs or musicians. Rather to be a creative is to understand how our work fits into the tapestry of the human experience; to understand the purpose of every activity as part of something larger than its face value. Likewise, to understand that if an activity has very little value beyond its surface, then it may very well be like the empty calories of one’s diet – a filler at best, but not contributing to our own betterment.
To create is to give dignity to our work. To truly work is to contribute to the collective act of creating, because the defining characteristic of a creation is that it is not meant isolation. What we create is to be experienced, seen, felt, heard, and tasted. What we create is a gift that is experienced rather than consumed because we understand it as a gift that is not our alone.
May our work be experienced as such.
NOTE: the inspiration for this post came from this post: To Labour is Love