Why Borrowed Creative Co.

Borrowed Creative Co. got its name from a simple idea: our creativity was never entirely ours to begin with.

We borrow it from the Lord.

We were created in the image of our God, the ultimate Creator. And I like to think that when He made us in His image, He took a tiny piece of His own creativity and bestowed it upon us.

What a gift that is!

And if creativity is a gift from Him, how could we not use it and give it right back to Him?

I believe every single person has the potential to create. Maybe not in the same way. Maybe not with the same medium, skill, or vision. But the ability to make something that did not exist before- to imagine, experiment, build, sew, paint, write, cook, grow, design- is woven into us.

I only see one real difference between someone who creates and someone who doesn't:

Those who do, and those who don't.

And there are a lot of things that can convince us not to.

You're not good enough.

There are people far more qualified than you.

Someone else has already done it better.

Who do you think you are?

Why would anyone care about your silly little creations?

But do you know what creating does to a person?

It brings joy.

And do you know who would love nothing more than to steal our joy?

The enemy.

So those little lies that whisper that you aren't talented enough, experienced enough, original enough, or qualified enough are empty words from a shallow source. They only have as much power as we allow them to have.

And I don't believe fear, comparison, or insecurity are good enough reasons to leave a gift unopened.

When God gives us an idea and we refuse to even try because we're afraid we can't make it as good as we imagine it, it's a little like throwing away a half-opened gift without ever finding out what was inside.

How do you know if you never try? And if it isn't as good as you thought it would be?

Try again.

Give yourself permission to train your hands, learn the technique, and study the craft. You should make the ugly version first, ruin the fabric, rewrite the page, pull the stitches out, start over, be teachable. Because that is when you start to see the magic happen.

Good art and good creativity are not built on talent alone.

They are work and they are practice.

They are long hours spent teaching our hands how to make what our minds can already see.

But they are also life.

That is why I struggle with the idea that creativity must always be "niched down." Niching down creativity almost feels like an oxymoron. We aren't called to make ourselves smaller. We aren't called to pick one tiny box and stay safely inside of it because it makes us easier to categorize.

We were given the ability to create as a gift, and we are called to steward our gifts well. Sometimes that might look like sewing, or writing. Sometimes it looks like painting, cooking, gardening, building, designing, photographing, decorating, or making something that doesn't fit neatly into a category at all.

If God had "niched down" His creativity, I highly doubt we would be here.

Creation itself is wildly diverse.

So perhaps our creativity is allowed to be, too.

Borrowed Creative Co. exists because I want to see what happens when we stop treating creativity as something reserved for the exceptionally talented and start treating it like something entrusted to us.

Something worth practicing, protecting, stewarding, and something worth sharing.

Because when we steward our creativity well, it stops being about us alone. We make room for God to work through it.

And I believe that when we loosen our grip on what we think our creativity should look like- and allow Him into the process- He can take it places we never could have reached on our own.

After all, it was His first.

We're only borrowing it.