It’s unbelievable how quickly it happened. One minute, I was a university student, my noggin engaged in the discovery of literary magnificence; and the next, I’ve joined the masses of weary bus commuters to push paper in the nation’s capital. Sadly, although the transition from creative inquisitiveness to workaday drudgery happened several years ago, it still leaves me dizzy with disillusionment. Why was this transition so difficult, and what did I compromise in the process?
There may be a sizable disconnect between what I studied, what my hobbies and passions are, and what I do on workdays, but I don’t aim to bemoan my salaried work, or the fact that much of it can be drab, uninteresting and unglamorous. I may not have that perfect job that utilizes my passions, skills and interests to the fullest, and I may not feel entirely fulfilled by the job that I do have, but that does not have to mean that all is lost. So I want to do an exercise here in seizing, in my current circumstances, those glimmers of creativity and passion which I thought I might have lost once I had to put my books away and become ‘responsible.’ I want to know how to prevent the ideological creativity of my student years from being extinguished by the need to pay the bills.
I consider myself a creative person, and to illustrate this, I’ll admit to something odd. My dream vocation would be a “colour classifier,” a person who gives names to the colours of paint, cars, crayons, makeup. When I look at products that have snazzy colour names, I often think I can do better. “Sunset Tangerine” could instead be “Zowee!” and “Fresh-Cut Grass” could be “Inflatable Palm Tree.” That’s why I find a kindred spirit in Adam, whom God charged with naming all the newly-created animals. Lucky guy. (I think “aardvark” was a fantastic choice.) In fact, God had some important tasks for creative types, such as those he gave the craftspeople during the building of the tabernacle. And look at all the other creative expressions found in the Bible: pslams, songs, letters, worship, teachings, parables, the crafting of textiles used for worship or gifts. God, the Prime Creator, values the creative efforts of his children, it’s clear; and I want to, need to make such efforts on a regular basis to sharpen the passion for creativity that God has given me. So how do I go about doing that?
First, I have to look a little harder for creative outlets to enliven a 9 to 5 existence, for colours (with cool names) to add to a workday lit by the dull glow of a computer screen, for those pinpricks of joy that can be found in routine life. Then I need to incorporate creative passion into different aspects of my lift—relationships, worship, leisure time, even at work—and find meaning in doing so, even if it’s not how I pay the bills. If I can encourage and bless others by my creative yield, that should be fulfillment enough; then I can bear to push paper the rest of the time.
It’s true: the temptation is great to let our work define who we are, which is only natural, since we invest so much of our time into it. And because we invest so much time into it, we hope to find fulfillment in it. It hit me on one of those days where I doubted the worthiness of my work that instead of letting my work define me, I should be the one to define my work. My attitude and my approach to tasks should determine the value of my workday, so I should seek to infuse creativity into work that appears un-creative on the surface. I can be creative in how I communicate and relate to my coworkers; I don’t have to give up on that youthful determination to incorporate originality into the everyday. I can put an inflatable palm tree in the corner of my office to make the atmosphere a bit zippier.
Or maybe something a bit subtler.
-Tara Briggs Kirkey-
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