I have loved the Einstein quote concerning creativity for quite sometime. I think one of the main reasons I enjoy it so much is because it recognizes that originality only takes places by standing on the shoulders the people who have influenced and helped you. Every creative thought or thing I have ever done has been the result of me working with the influences that are a part of my life. It turns out originality isn’t usually so original.
Earlier this week I saw this image on the Facebook profile of Joe Thorn, a pastor I follow. I don’t know how the church he leads used those three words (Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude) or the graphic (I assume it was part of their Good Friday service) but the words really rang true for me and started me thinking of a way to take what I already had for Tapestry’s Resurrection Sunday worship gathering and reshape it around those three words. Tomorrow night’s worship gathering at Tapestry will be directed by remembering those three words.
I guess I am actually doing the opposite of Einstein’s quote by not hiding my source but I like knowing the connections that are behind things and I therefore kind of like showing the connections behind what I do. I like seeing how people take something someone else has done and then shaping it into something brand new and then someone else doing the same with the new idea.
SIDE NOTE – the best book I have ever read on creativity is A Whack on the Side of the Head which I probably need to read again.