January 6

To create is an opportunity to act on courage. To create is not only for artists or "creative types"; instead, it is a process in which connections and ideas are brought together to make something new. Sometimes creativity happens on an art canvas, but many other times, it happens in moments when:

You're brainstorming ideas to cheer up a friend.
You're thinking about a "theme" for a semester, a quarter, or an event.
You're considering what colors might make sense for a space.
You're imagining new outcomes for a situation.
You're exploring new ways of connecting with people or things that are important to you...

To create or be creative is a process... a process that takes courage.

To come up with new ideas, you need to be okay with everyone not “getting it.” Being open in this way takes courage.

To try something new, there is the possibility of it not working out the way you hoped. It takes courage to try, without knowing.

To let others see what you've made or experience what you've been working on, it takes courage to hear what they might think about it.

Whether it’s cheering up a friend, discovering ways to tell your story, or imagining new outcomes, courage plays a role in each of these things. It can be an act of courage to share even a part of what is meaningful to you, especially when considering that the ways the response or outcome might be unknown.

And because the unknown can weigh on us heavily, this is why it matters to recognize the small ways you have been courageous, too. All of the times you've said and thought to yourself, "I wonder if..." or "What if we tried..." these are all moments in which your courage was being ignited. Allow those smaller moments to be reminders of the courage that has been stirring within you all along, and as the acts become more courageous, remember to pace yourself into it. You are developing what you need to be engaged with a full heart, right here.