LIMITATIONS ARE NOT YOUR ENEMY.
IMAGINATION IS A PRACTICE, NOT AN ACCIDENT.
Creativity solves problems. Necessity is called the mother of invention. Time is a construct that can either be discouragement or boundaries that allows your best work. Time, money, or space may not be your enemy. They may be the very thing that enables you to thrive! Think of the theological truth of Jesus being fully human and fully God, or the teaching of the Incarnation. Jesus lived as a man. He had 24 hours in every day. He had to sleep. He had to eat. Miracles happened at specific times of day in particular locations. God's work and creativity seem to have little problem with time or space. The Day of Pentecost, the Church received the Holy Spirit, and we all anticipate the Second Coming of our Lord on a particular day. Think of the limitations you have as the size and shape of your canvas. Some will own a larger canvas to paint their masterpiece. Humility means I accept the limitations God chooses to give me. I cannot grow any taller at this point in life, for instance. So, my choice is to embrace my height. (By the way, I happen actually to be shrinking with age!) A young mother or father with small children may have a smaller canvas. Should you stop painting until you have the most massive canvas available, or should you create with what you have in front of you? Kids grow up, and seasons change—so will your limitations. Limitations will grow or shrink. This is no excuse to stop creating.
Imagination's greatest gift is to allow a world that does not yet exist to be lived in and studied. As a child, I often daydreamed. While it may seem an accident that I was able to vividly create everything from imaginary friends to stories, the practice of being one who imagined daily helped. My imagination muscle grew the more I used it. As we grow into adulthood, we, for some reason, believe that we cannot draw or create as we did as kids. The muscle of imagination atrophies to the point that we are led to think we're just not creative. But, what if you can still draw? What if imagination was a discipline of habit rather than the random thoughts of a child? What if God wants worship leaders to imagine the possibilities of what a service could be like for our church? Leadership is about shaping reality. Imagination describes the world we wish for our people. Hope is about imagination. You cannot see it, but it is a belief in a world not yet acquired. Have you read something that transported you to a magical place? Inspiration is about breathing in something that fills you. As worship leaders, time slips away with meetings and responsibilities. Being inspired is not given the weight it deserves. Drink in a sunset. Listen to music that challenges your ear. Read a book that enlightens your mind. Have coffee with a friend who leaves you charged. Imagination is not an accident. You have to dig for it, practice it, and anticipate that it will arrive just in time.
CREATIVITY REQUIRES HARD WORK. Do our best ideas come from random flashes or our daily efforts? The myth many of us creative types have is that the better ideas are the ones that just show up. What we often celebrate is the myth that this is a regular occurrence. A songwriter may, by chance, come up with a hit in a few minutes. But, I bet that songwriter had worked daily for many years before that song was written. So, did that song come in a flash, or was it part of her daily work? What we forget, even as creators, is that an iterative process lies underneath the most exciting creative works. In other words, showing up to work means your chances of a hit song in five minutes exponentially goes up. You can do things daily to create. Gordon McKenzie mentions in his book that creativity is a lot like cows chewing the cud.* The boss in his suit is livid, seeing perfectly good cows in the pasture chewing and chewing instead of being in the barn being milked. What the boss forgets is that chewing the cud makes the milk! You cannot have creativity without fuel. In most cases, this fuel is hard work. Instead of chewing grass, we can chew by mastering our skills in storytelling, playing our instrument, or flexing the muscle of imagination.
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