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321 sats \ 1 reply \ @dagny761 19 Feb \ on: From Consumer to Creator spirituality
I feel this tension especially as I watch my children falling to the need to consume- already trying to outpace their friends for new things that won't last except as plastic in a dump or ocean. Their interest in artistic and musical production (i.e. banging on the piano and smearing paint on everything) has too often been overshadowed by temporarily distracting Things.
Asking "what habits have you established" is so important, because it is habits that will cultivate a creative lifestyle, become second nature, and end up being the model for our children. My children can be taught repeatedly that they are made in God's image, therefore should cultivate their creativity, but much more affective would be for these habits to be caught from my example.
The two venues in which we try to cultivate a thirst for creativity in our family include:
- Getting out into God's creation as much as possible- from planned hiking excursions to simply enjoying a beautiful day in the yard.
- Encouraging/facilitating any and every creative spark any of the kids voice (inventing a new board game based on a favorite story; creating a princess dress from old sheets and letting them decorate it with markers; using Midjourney to create themed coloring books; etc.) While Proverbs 22:6 is not a promise, but a principal, if we "start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." I would suggest that an affective way to start convincing my children that they are creative beings, made in the image of the most Creative Being is to model a joyful appreciation of God's creation and to celebrate every creative instinct that they bring my way- every messy, loud and sometimes disruptive instinct. What a privilege to know God and see His hand both around and in each of us.