What place does creativity have in our lives? When creating a ceremony, part of my process is to tune in to the family or the couple that I’m working with. I am reaching for the connection that all of us have deep down, our own expression of Love – I find that it is generally through our passions, interests, hobbies, what we do with our free time, how we relate to others or the work we choose in the world (sometimes its all of the above, sometimes, just a couple of these things).
As I write this blog post I am completing the final words of a funeral service for a man who enjoyed bird watching on the North Norfolk coast. I have freed up some time this morning to cycle down to the Pinewoods between Wells next the Sea and Holkham Bird Reserve where I will walk and find the words we need to complete the service.
A year or so ago I remember another woman we were commemorating and laying to rest. She had lived in the Blakeney area and family memories involved regular trips to the marshes. I’m lucky enough to live near there myself, and found myself walking out beneath the sky with the wide vista of the sea and horizon, the changing tides, to connect with the timeless qualities of marsh walking. She may have been there so many decades ago, and yet the same sensations, the same presence were accessible to me, to feel that connection and represent her as fully as I could in the words that we wrote.
To tune in is a vital part of making the ceremony meaningful for me. I am someone who gets bored quite easily, I move on from any job or working role that doesn’t continue to interest me at a variety of different levels. And so if I was a celebrant who churned out the same words each time, or who suggested the same poems, same imagery I would very quickly become disillusioned with my work.
Rather, as a creative woman, I immerse myself in the honour of what I’ve been asked to do. I find out more, I research a little into the historical roots of any details from my family meetings, I choose herbs and flowers to wear as a button hole that ‘feel’ right for the person we are commemorating that day. I might imagine what their life was like, connect a little with how they found life, empathise with certain areas or episodes that they went through, bring any understanding that I can to situations or developments that occurred.
I hold all this lightly of course, not like an intrepid investigator, instead rather like a fellow woman on her own journey, walking life my own way and recognising that we have more in common than we might think. We all bring our own distinctive colours and expressions to the world during the time that we are alive and beyond through our loved ones and deeds.
Writing and engaging in this process is a flow, a joy and a great privilege. Like a refreshing shower for the soul. So many books have been written about creativity and the gifts it has for each of us. These kinds of acts for me are what helps life radiate a sense of purpose and connection. I try to never be too far away from a song (much to the horror of my teenagers!), my pencil case of colours, my sketch book, journal and pens, so that Love can flow through these hands and wash through me! It’s easy to forget to, as life can have a habit of carrying us along regardless, and I thoroughly recommend it. In what ways does creativity flow through you?
