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What Styx Taught Me About Creating
This past week, my husband and I went to see the band Styx perform. For me, Styx was a huge part of my high school years. I loved their music. I knew the songs, sang along to them, and have carried some of those melodies with me for decades.
Standing there all these years later singing Come Sail Away and Mr. Roboto, I found myself hearing the music in an entirely different way. And, I realized I never REALLY listened to the meaning of the words. I was struck by how incredibly creative they were with the lyrics, the story telling, the layers of sound and the way they blended different ideas together to create something that was completely unique. They played outside the box of traditional rock.
It got me thinking about how important it is for us to be creative.
We were born creators. We have this incredible ability to take something that exists only inside of us like an idea, a feeling, a vision or a dream and bring it into the world in a way that can touch other people and become something entirely new.
And, I believe there is something incredibly healthy about creating. When we create, we are adding something to the world rather than taking something away from it. We are using our energy to build instead of destroy. We are expressing something that exists inside of us and bringing it into physical form to share with the world.
That is one of the reasons why creating feels so good. It gives us purpose, engages our minds, moves energy through us and connects us to something bigger than ourselves. It can inspire vitality, joy and a sense of aliveness.
Watching Styx perform music they created decades ago reminded me that what we create can outlive the moment in which we create it. Something that someone dreamed up, wrote, played and brought into the world when I was a teenager was still moving me almost 50 years later. That is so powerful.
This affirmed in me that I don't want to just move through this life consuming what other people have created. I want to be the creator. I want to keep exploring, imagining and bringing things into existence that didn't exist before I dreamed them up.
And I want to surround myself with people who are doing the same.
Taking the energy we could use to destroy, criticize, or tear down and instead using it to create beauty, love, safety and connection may be one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and the planet.
So ask yourself, "What do I want to create with the time I've been given?"
With love,
Kim
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