Every person has been created to create by a creative God. God is the master creator, author, sculptor, painter, minstrel, dancer.

I’ve always been interested in creating. Though I’m not an expert in all areas of art, I enjoy taking part in the different areas. Recently (just this week) I’ve delved into the realms of childhood memory that I keep boarded up in hopes that I could discover a sort of starting point for my love of creating (besides the innate creative ability we are all born with). My memories are mostly very family-centered. While my parents aren’t loose living, sixties loving, bohemian hippies or anything of the sort, I’ve grown up in a household that enabled (and still enables) creativity.

First of all, I tend to have an awful memory. Typical icebreaker get-to-know-each-other questions that stress me out the most have to do with memories from my childhood (or any point in life) because I can’t remember! However, I do have an answer for a favorite childhood memory because it’s one that stands out for a variety of reasons.

I was young. My bleach blonde hair either secured in a tiny ponytail or flowing about. We were in the living room, ensconced by a plaid couch and a blue one. Mom turned the television on and changed the channel to one of Irish music. She, my brother, and I linked hands and started doing some form of an Irish jig in a circle in the middle of the room.

I can’t remember if we partook in that particular activity more than once in my life, but for how much it stands out in my memory, I have a feeling it happened multiple times. That memory contributes to my love of dance and Ireland.

My dad is in the Army. We move a lot. On these road-trips, various happenings take place. One of the most common is the song. My dad is a modern day minstrel. He will create sounds and beats and rhythms and harmonizing and lyrics all based off of something somebody said, or something somebody sees, or just about anything he decides he wishes to sing about. While sometimes his songs are a bit far-shooting, I’ve found it’s usually more enjoyable to join in and add something than sit there astounded. And now I do this in everyday life—perhaps not as much as Dad, but still more than a normal person.

Now, stories. While the songs my Dad comes up with are stories themselves, he also specializes in oral storytelling. My favorites growing up were stories of Rocky and Bullwinkle. He does all the voices. We always tease him that if he needed a job he could be famous on Adventures in Odyssey.

While oral storytelling was and still is an important part of my life, so is the written word. My mom specializes here—she is a poet and a scriptwriter, two things that I partake in to this day (as does she). She encouraged (and still encourages) my story writing and always listens with patience as I ramble on about characters and worlds for an hour…or two...

Then visual arts. My mom is gifted in the visual arts. She has an eye for creating aesthetically beautiful things, whether by pencil, by paint, by clay, by putting things together and making cards or décor, she has a gift. Every time we move she sets up the house in a week with an expert eye.

I think something that contributes to my love of decorating has been moving around so much. I don’t enjoy having large, plain white walls. They have to be covered with something. From a young age (before it was easy for me to decorate my own room) I would build houses and design rooms for Lego minifigures, for my Polly Pockets and Littlest Petshops and Barbies and American Girl Dolls and, of course, Webkinz. Creating living spaces with these mediums was a favorite pastime of mine and now I can live it out in real life. Once I created something this way, I’d drag my mom over and show her every little genius detail.

I’m thankful for the way I grew up. I was allowed space, time, and a safe atmosphere to explore and create with my God given abilities. In a way, these memories, these lifestyles, have shaped me into who I am today—somebody who desires everybody to realize their unique God-given creative abilities and potential.