My amazing sister-in-law Diane and I started a fledgling writer’s group last year. She is a serious student of writing and goes to workshops all over the country to hone her craft and feed her muse.

At our meeting the other night, she gifted us all (there are 4 of us–I said fledgling) with a book called Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert (the author of the fabulous Eat, Pray, Love.) It is about the idea that everyone has creativity lurking within them, but may be fearful of unleashing it for any number of reasons.

I agree with this as I have books that won’t, can’t be written because of one fear or another. You may have things you would do/make/risk, if only (fill in the blank here.)

This “fear of creativity” caused me to think about the opposite of it, which is the idea that sometimes one MUST create and damn the torpedoes. I call it the “compulsion of creativity” which doesn’t sound very pretty, but is accurate.

You know people who have or have had this affliction.

My parents, for instance. They grew up in the depression and struggled through WWII, marrying a hot minute after it was over. For them stability, security, responsibility, planning for the future, and leaving a legacy for their children were paramount. There was no time for creativity. If you had asked them, they would have told you they were not particularly creative people.

And yet, my dad, an engineer, would spend hours in his workshop crafting the most beautiful furniture for their home and later, for ours. Jewelry boxes, coffee tables, armoires, china cabinets, dozens of pieces in differing woods from walnut to oak. Even now, the smell of sawdust or fresh cut wood takes me back to those days watching him create beautiful, but practical, works of art.

My mother, a homemaker, let loose her creativity in the décor of her home. She was a seamstress and would make tableskirts and matching pillows (in addition to clothes for all of her daughters–see my prom dress, right.) She once went to a hotel closing and bought tables for the aforementioned skirts and a giant armoire that showcased collections gathered through the years from international travels and trips to Tuesday Morning. One day I walked in to find a huge and heavy sculpture from the prow of a retail ship hanging in the den. It was magnificent and certainly none of my friends had one in their home.

My parents’ creativity couldn’t be contained, but by golly, it was practical!

I think compulsive creativity is the most pronounced in children, who couldn’t care less about practicality, security, responsibility or legacy. They just want to color that sun blue.

I watched my son Adam draw from an early age and saw his talent blossom (see an early work above.) Years later he ended up at the Arts Magnet high school in Dallas and went on get a degree in Fine Arts. Today it is his eye for beauty and design that informs his home décor and unique personal style.

Molly’s creativity exploded in high school through music, acting and eventually musical theatre at TCU. She did dinner theatre and plays for a while before her family came along.

Today I see creative compulsion in her children.

Lyla loves dance, but it is music (fueled by mom, but also Dad who is a professional musician) that is her “thing.” She is learning to play piano and guitar while also taking voice. I love to hear her hum and sing as she does other tasks. She can’t help it!

And Wren, still a work in progress–acting? Maybe. Dance? Definite possibility as she excels in ballet. Art? Sure. She’s constantly coloring, cutting, pasting. Creating!

But, not all creativity falls under the usual talents of music, art, writing, acting or dance.

My daughter Traci is a wonderful cook and has a gift for sharing her culinary ability (this is a lot like her father, Mike.)

Daughter Erin has an eye for detail in her home and in entertaining, creating a warm and welcoming environment for friends and family.

While daughter Sarah loves to write, color, and decorate in the most Zen-like fashion, pursuing more personal and spiritual creative outlets.

Erin and Sarah’s mother Robin expressed her creativity through sharing her musical talents both in her career as a music therapist and in several church choirs and musical groups. Robin blessed me after the kids went to school by joining me in a musical endeavor we called One Earth, an environmental stewardship presentation we took to churches around Dallas until her death in 2003. A creative compulsion for sure!

So do I think creativity is inherited. Yes. Does it have to be? No!

Do you have to show signs of it as a child? Heck, no. Anyone’s creativity can burst forth at any moment! You just have to answer the creative call when it compels you.

That’s how I got into writing. I felt compelled to write page after page about the Monkees concert when I was 13, and that compulsion is what took me into advertising in college and career, and then on to creative writing as an avocation later. I certainly didn’t spring from the womb as a fully-formed writer.

So, what is it you love to do, but don’t? What do you think about doing, but just can’t because (fill in the blank here.) What would you do right now if all the fears, road-blocks, and constraints were taken away?

Open yourself up to the possibilities your inner creative self could show you. Unleash your creative compulsion!

Ooh, that gives me an idea. . .