The Creative Life on Lockdown
I'm naturally a homebody. It was almost inevitable: I'm an only child raised 40 miles from a small city by my grandparents. We had one neighbor. We went "to town" once a week for groceries (always Tuesday, Lucky Number day at Bi-mart). The rambler was big enough for our little family, but the property was enormous. I made friends with the cows who lived on the other side of the barbed wire fence by our garden, explored the small forest in the front yard, picked huckleberries, blackberries and wood sorrel for snacks. In the summer, I didn't come inside until I couldn't see my hand in front of my face for the darkness. My childhood was happy, but on the weekends, I also faced the trauma and chaos of maintaining relationships with an addict father and a mentally ill mother. At the crossroads of being frequently alone and feelings of abandonment was a fierce protection of the space that I called my own.
I love home. Home has always been a respite for me.
After I switched grandparents and lived closer to the city, closer to people, and involved in more activities, my large basement bedroom was my safe space. As a child I created entire worlds alone with my stuffies, barbies and the tiny Dungeons and Dragons figurines my grandma had saved from her childhood. I stayed up too late reading by the light of my walk-in closet, I spilled rubber cement on my favorite comforter making collages out of cut up magazines, and I wrote all my college and scholarship essays alone at my desk with my music.
In our ministry life, this has been difficult because we both study and work at home during the day and do much of our ministry activities together in the evenings. I am almost never alone and have to to fight for it in order to recharge. So maybe I am a bit of a loner.
And now.
Now, because of Spain's dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases during March 2020, we are isolated here in our home, a small three bedroom flat with no deck or outdoor space, allowed out one person at a time to go to the grocery store or pharmacy. We cannot even go for a walk without a purpose.
The creativity that sustained me during a sometimes tumultuous childhood also feels like it is in lockdown. Daily since our isolation started, I have a physical need to do something creative, to produce, to express myself. But I face writer's block and constant interruptions and deep disappointment with my words when they do come. I ache to write something beautiful as a marker of God's faithfulness in the midst of a pandemic.
Everything non-essential is paused. I know what this means, but is creativity non-essential? It has never felt more essential, or more elusive. Italian engineers found a way to make additional ventilators out of snorkel masks - that's both creative and essential. So I submit that while your job may not be essential to society in the midst of a pandemic, your creative work is essential. All of it. By simply staying home, we are creating an environment in which a deadly virus can't thrive. That's the goal, and we'll see what other benefits to our earth and communities arise because we trusted the process and stayed home. Who knows what God is creating in our churches, neighborhoods and families as we put physical distance between us.
Here is my essential / non-essential offering. At Trades of Hope, our ethically produced pieces are made by women around the world who are overcoming poverty and human trafficking. We believe that each woman is an artist and entrepreneur. Through sustainable business, our artisans are able to provide for their children, escape sexual exploitation, create hopeful futures for themselves and much more.
Our artisans are not excluded from the quarantines and distancing edicts in place around the world, but many of them have limited resources for such unprecedented times. We can help keep their businesses sustainable by shopping through Trades of Hope.
In the United States, Feeding America launched an emergency response to the pandemic and is working hard provide food to the millions of families who rely on food banks to help feed their families, including the 22 million children who rely on school meals have access to food outside of the classroom.
Now through April 21, for every purchase through a Trades of Hope party, they donate 10 meals to Feeding America!
I've got a party going on right now - so head over to do some shopping! OR, host an online event yourself, invite your friends, and earn amazing hostess rewards. Interested? Send me an email or DM me on Instagram or Facebook.