Wednesday, October 10, 2012

31 Days of Writing in Community: Day 5- Make a Mess!

31 Days of Writing in Community: Day 5- Make a Mess!

"All of their messes are really lessons about life and the earth. Don't be afraid to get dirty and don't be afraid of the mess..."
The Creative Family (Amanda Blake Soule)


Making a mess. Flour all over the kitchen! Fingerpaint on the walls! Itty bitty pieces of paper all over the floor! Some of us shudder at the thought. (Mostly the thought of cleaning it up!)

What if making a mess is necessary for creativity? Sometimes the ideas don't flow out in a concise manner. Sometimes the words, the art, the dance, are choppy at first-awkward. Then slowly, the mess becomes something beautiful. Something worthwhile. A little wild, but stunning.

In a community, we need to share our mess. We need to let others in on our process. We need to be vulnerable, so that others can be brave. I love it when home decorating blogs post pictures of a messy room. I feel instantly better-like maybe my mess could become something...And I love looking at old writer's notes, criss-crossed with additions, subtractions, and scratch-outs. Greatness comes from this: the risk of a mess. I was so tempted at first, to take the old posts off of this blog. But then I thought, no, that's my mess. It's a hot mess, to be sure. But it's all part of this process and I don't want to forget it. I don't want to forget that a mess can eventually turn into something wonderful. (Even if it's only for me!)

Just like a child covered in paint, our mess is leading us somewhere... What mess will make today?

1 comment:

Dixie McLeod said...

Love the title!! I have always wondered what kind of work is happening on desks that are so clean they could serve as mirrors!!! "giving birth" no matter to what one is giving birth IS messy!...:-) enjoyed the post