Are you bored?
Are you scared?
Are you angry?
If so, you are there, instead of being here.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Life is not something that happens to you. You take what you have been given and you get to shape it, form it, steer it, make it into something. And you have way more power to do this than your realize. What you do with your life is fundamentally creative work: the kind of life you lead, what you do with your time, how you spend your energies–it’s all part of how you create your life. It’s all part of how you create your life. It’s all part of being here!–Rob Bell[/perfectpullquote]
We all have a blinking line
What’s your blinking line?
Rob Bell, author of How To Be Here, defines the blinking line as whatever sits in front of you waiting to be brought into the existence.
Perhaps, it’s a book.
Perhaps, it’s a phone call.
Perhaps, it’s a trip.
Perhaps, it’s a project.
Perhaps, it’s a hug.
Perhaps, it’s…
… life that is waiting for you to bring it into being.
What are we here for?
Is the world finished or unfinished?
When we are facing the blinking line, says Rob Bell, we talk about bringing something new into existence, we’re expressing a different view of the world, one in which the world is unfinished.
Do you know what’s your calling?
NationBuilder founder and CEO Jim Gilliam, author of The Internet Is My
Religion
offers some advice to people who haven’t yet unlocked their own potential.
- First, try new things by saying “yes” to things you’re initially inclined to say “no” to. Only by stepping outside your comfort zone can you determine whether said comfort zone actually exists.
- Second, just as with raising a child, unlocking one’s personal potential requires a village. Find good listeners who are willing to hear your story. Reflect on your life with the aid of another’s ears and you’ll be on your way to introspection and self-realization.
What kind of life am I creating?
Oh yes, you’re not creative.
Oh right, you don’t have time.
Oh well…
…All work is creative work because all work is participating in the ongoing creation of the world.
Now, creativity requires that we don’t simply accept everything being handed to us.
Instead: We must take the time to stop and think about:
- what is going on around us,
- why we do the things we do the way we do them, and
- if there might be better or more magical things out there waiting to be discovered.
The artist paints to create a new reality, not merely to accept the one he or she has been given.
The inventor designs ways for life to be lived, sometimes that makes it easier and sometimes not.
The poet gives a sharp eye to the humanity of life, dotting each attribute many of us tend to overlook simply because we can’t be bothered to do so.
To be creative is to not simply accept everything around you for the way it is. You must look at everything closely, always questioning, always dreaming of better and different ways to do, think, feel, taste, hear, and experience. It’s from that constant curiosity and exploration that the best ideas bloom.
Now, just be here and create a live worth living.
