What If Creativity Is Also Spiritual?

This is the sixth post in my series, Creativity in Real Life—exploring creativity not as talent or performance, but as a practical and meaningful way of moving through everyday life.

In the last few weeks, we’ve talked about creativity as a way through stuck places… uncertain seasons… overthinking… and even the flatness that can settle in when life becomes all responsibility and no delight.

But I want to go a little deeper this week.

Because the more I reflect on creativity, the more I wonder if it’s not just practical.

What if it’s also spiritual?

What if creativity is a fundamental part of being human – made in the image of a Creator?

In the Beginning…

A couple of years ago, I started paying closer attention to the creation story in Genesis.

Not studying it academically. Just noticing.

And one thing struck me almost immediately: how often the words created, made, good, and seed appear.

God creates plants bearing seed.
Fruit trees with seed in them.
Living creatures that multiply and bring forth more life.
And then human beings—created in God’s image and likeness—who are blessed and told to “be fruitful and multiply.”

Again and again, creation is described as something generative.

God didn’t just create for one moment.

God created things that continue creating.

Seeds.

Growth.

Fruitfulness.

New life.

And I don’t think this only applies biologically.

There are lots of different kinds of seeds planted in us.

Gifts.
Desires.
Ideas.
Ways of loving.
Ways of seeing.
Ways of bringing life into the world.

Not all at once.
Not fully formed.
But present.

Like seeds, they are potential waiting to unfold.

Seeds We Don’t Recognize Yet

Creativity does not just belong to some of us.  It’s a gift given to each of us in different ways.  Sometimes it just takes some time for us to see the seeds and help them grow.

When I was younger, I loved theatre and singing. And somewhere along the way, I quietly absorbed the idea that those interests weren’t especially important. They even felt a bit frivolous.  Nice hobbies maybe, but not meaningful.

Except now, years later, I can see that they revealed something real about me.

They reflected deep needs and values.
Connection. Expression. Meaning. Beauty. Bringing people together. Helping others feel something.

Even now, when I sing with my chorus, something in me comes alive.

Not because I’m trying to impress anyone.
Not because it’s productive.

Because it feels like participating in something bigger than myself.

And maybe that’s part of what creativity is.

Not performance.

Participation.

Maybe creativity, in its deepest sense, is less about artistic expression and more about participating in the ongoing work of bringing life into the world.

What Was Growing Underground

A few years before I started my business, I went on a private retreat during a difficult season of life. Professionally, things were getting harder and harder. Personally, I was carrying grief and exhaustion that I hadn’t fully processed.

After I’d had a few days to work through the grief and experience some healing, my heart was able to open up to dreams again.  

I intended to sit and journal about my work situation.  But I couldn’t focus.  I felt energy bubbling up in me and in a flash of inspiration I found myself writing:
“I want to direct and manage a spirituality center where I’ll teach about leadership and spirituality.”

And then immediately thought:
What? I don’t even know what that means.

At the time, it honestly felt more like a fever dream than a message from God.

And yet… something in me ignited that morning.

But it stayed underground for a while.

About seven months later, I lost my job.

And then I entered this strange in-between season.

I did caregiving work. Managed a team of caregivers. Took online classes. Taught high school religion. Did consulting projects. Slowly got trained in coaching and facilitation.

None of it looked like a clear career plan.

But looking back now, I can see that every piece taught me something. Every piece prepared me for the work I do now.

If I had jumped immediately into business, I would’ve missed important lessons. Important formation. Important clarity that only came slowly.

Seeds take time.

The Spirit Still Breathes

And honestly, some things in life seem to emerge before we fully understand them.

Years ago, I was helping curate reflections for a youth leadership program I was involved with. Everyone had submitted something except me.

On my commute to work one morning, words suddenly started bubbling up in me.

A poem.

I have no better way to describe it except to say that it felt given.

The lines arrived faster than I could process them. I practically ran into the office trying to capture them before they disappeared.

That reflection later became one of the cornerstone pieces we returned to year after year as a leadership team.

And experiences like that have happened enough times in my life that I’ve stopped dismissing them.

Not because I think God is magically dictating poems to me.

But because I think the Holy Spirit is alive and active and still creating.

Still breathing.

Still stirring things in us.

Still inviting us to bring something into the world for the good of others.

That feels especially meaningful to me this week as we approach Pentecost.

When the Holy Spirit arrives in Scripture, it often shows up through images like wind, breath, fire.

Movement. Energy. Animation.

As natural as breathing.

Creativity as Co-Creation

It’s important to remember that spiritual gifts are never given just for ourselves. They’re given for the benefit of others.

That matters.

Because I think many people quietly believe creativity is self-indulgent.

Extra. Optional. Decorative.

But what if creativity is actually one of the ways we participate with God in bringing more life into the world?  One of the ways we fulfill that command to “be fruitful and multiply.”

Not just through art—but through encouragement, leadership, hospitality, healing, teaching, problem-solving, community-building, writing, mentoring, nurturing, connecting, imagining, beginning again.

All of those activities – and many more – are creative endeavors.

A few years ago, after running a group coaching program, I noticed something happening among the women in the group.

There was trust growing. Connection. Energy when we gathered.

I hadn’t planned to create an ongoing community. But eventually I found myself asking:
“What if we stayed together after the program?”

That small question eventually became the TEAL Community—an ongoing community where women support one another in living and leading with greater intention, honesty, courage, and wholeness.

I didn’t strategically mastermind it into existence.

It emerged.

And in many ways, it still feels like an ongoing act of co-creation.

Listening.
Trying things.
Adjusting.
Responding.
Paying attention to what brings life.

Creativity: Sacred Yet Ordinary

I think many of us forget that we are creative.

Not because we lack talent.
But because we’ve become disconnected from that part of ourselves.

We start believing life is mostly about surviving, producing, managing, and getting through.

And yes, responsibility matters.

But I don’t think God created us merely to function.

I think God delights in creating with us.

I think there are sparks of the divine woven into each of us—not fully, of course, but enough that when we use our gifts to bring more life, beauty, healing, wisdom, hope, or connection into the world, something sacred is happening.

And I don’t mean that in an overly dramatic way.

Sometimes co-creating with God looks very ordinary.

A conversation.
A gathering.
A garden.
A handwritten note.
A fresh idea.
A brave decision.
A half-formed dream.
A step taken before clarity is complete.

And yes—it’s still a choice.

Trust is a choice.
Openness is a choice.
Participation is a choice.

There have been many times when I’ve ignored invitations because I was afraid, tired, uncertain, or convinced I wasn’t ready.

We needn’t feel pressure or guilt about that.  

God keeps inviting.

Gently.
Patiently.
Creatively.

Again and again.

The Invitation to Notice

There’s a verse from Isaiah that often comes back to me when life feels uncertain:

“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

I love that question.

Do you not perceive it?

Not:
Can you control it?
Can you map it all out?
Can you guarantee the outcome?

Just:
Can you notice it?

Can you stay awake enough to perceive the seeds?
The sparks?
The small beginnings?
The signs of new life?

Maybe creativity is less about making impressive things…

and more about participating in the ongoing work of creation itself.

Maybe it’s about noticing what has been planted within us… and choosing to nurture it into something life-giving for others.

Maybe that’s part of what it means to be made in the image of a Creator.

Next week, we’ll close out this Creativity in Real Life series by pulling all these threads together.

Because creativity isn’t just a tool for solving problems or generating ideas.

It’s a way of approaching life itself and becoming more fully ourselves in the process.

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