Pentecost: Reigniting creativity
Introducing Sarah Gilbert, the newest member of our Next Leadership core team, who's concluding our six-part Pentecost series today. You’ll find plenty to identify with here along with our usual encouragement to take action…
Pentecost: Reigniting creativity
In the past few months, I have come to the realisation that I have more tasks to do than hours in the day… it’s been like this for a while, but we adapt and adjust. It’s been more a minor irritation than a major stress factor. Through the pandemic and up to now I am confident that my output has increased, task-wise. I no longer walk from meeting room to meeting room, there are fewer people in the corridor to say ‘Hello’ to. The working landscape has changed for many and I am sure that some of you reading this will have similar experiences.
It seems there is a disconnect. My output has increased, but my to-do list still stretches into the distance. On a daily basis, I see leadership articles warning of the dangers of burnout and overwork so I feel I am not alone in this phenomenon. I decided to investigate my list of things to do; I’m not a big fan of lists. They feel restrictive, but I had dismissed this feeling for some time - I realised that in my busyness, I had drifted… swapped my space for creative and innovative thinking for ‘getting things done’. I was no longer improving, but stuck in the same repeating, inefficient, indifferent tasks.
I had forgotten that creativity is an amazing, breath-taking, critical part of who we are, a gift from God. I imagine the day of Pentecost as an exciting explosion of noise, colour, flame and sensation, receiving the gift of interacting with others and the ability to further express ourselves in multiple ways; the capacity to document and record our experiences and evoke emotions through art, music, the written and spoken word.
The freedom to communicate and to preserve our history and culture is an extraordinary gift, yet we are given more. Our creativity grants us the ability to question the status quo, inspire others to reach their potential, and to change and grow together. Critically, our creativity allows us to imagine a new and brighter future. To see and interpret visions for a better world and to dream of what could be.
The thing we don’t make enough time for... Is vital. I will be adding some creative space to my to-do list. Highest priority. I encourage you to do the same!
