and I thought the "B" list was good!

is for a collection of things for which I am grateful! It's probably the longest list (alphabetically speaking), and like its predecessor each word conjures up images, memories and deep thanksgivings for things that are or have been significant parts of my life. Let's just stipulate (to borrow a legal term) that this will be true for each letter's list!

Children * Change * Communication * Community * Coffee * Computers * Chocolate * Cookies * Cash * Corn on the cob * Culinary skills * Cooking * Christmas * College memories * Crafts * Cuddling * Curiosity * Companionship * Creativity * Church * Cars * Christ * Caring friends * Cabana Crew * Chocolate chip cookie dough * Compromise * Comfort * Camaraderie * Catalogs * Color * Cooling breezes * Cameras * Confidence * Cape Cod * Caller ID * Curry * Constancy * Celtic music * Celtic art * Candles * Choices * Celebrations * Crossword puzzles * Cinnamon

This morning I am mindful of creativity. I can remember an occasion when I was struggling to cope with a difficult and painful situation. Part of living with and honoring the pain as I worked through it and sought healing was engaging in a creative effort. I don't recall how it was that I chose this particular project, but I immersed myself in making a stole. I selected shades of purple fabric and assembled a common quilt pattern of small squares set on the diagonal. The lightest shade was in the center and the colors graduated toward darkness as they moved toward the edge. I suspect that creating a Lenten stole was unconscious, but in the end it became, and remains, my favorite stole. It reminds me of a time of pain and healing, and the connection of creativity to the process. It's also a beautiful stole (sorry I don't have a picture!)

I am a person who needs to create. Whether it's a meal, the generation of an idea, the solution to a problem or a crafted item, my being holds life and ideas, and that life and those ideas require expression. Creativity is a divine process for me (and, I think, for most people), an experience of connecting and finding inspiration from a source beyond ourselves that is about dwelling in the center of God. Creating is also restorative for me. As Ken and I live in and move through some difficult times, the challenge of coping with the difficult is wearying and depleting. I know that a large part of restoring balance and strength to my soul will come from creating. And so I will. I have not yet identified the project into which I will immerse myself to experience that restoration (not to mention the simple joy that creating IS), but an abundance of possibilities exist. The anticipation alone brings a certain peace, and with that peace, hope. What a blessing.