“Create,” said my friend, with enthusiasm.
I looked at the blank piece of paper and was numb.

“Create?   Create what?”

“Let it flow.  Put paint on brush, brush on paper.  See what happens.”

“She’s got to be kidding” I murmured to myself. “I need her to show me what to do.  I’ve never painted before”. 

The others were mixing paint colours, adding water, having fun. One was even humming.  And I?  What was I doing?  I was looking at the others, trying to figure out what to do … looking at the instructor … trying to have her tell me in simple, easy, step-by-step instructions, how to create.  But there I sat.  Immobile.

~ Schoenberg created twelve-tone music.
~ Bette Nesmith Graham invented liquid paper.
~ Picasso created cubism.
~ Maria Telkes & Eleanor Raymond developed the first solar-heated home.
~ Auden made verses.
~ Gutenberg invented moveable type.
~ Cartwright invented the game of baseball.
~ Earle Dickson invented bandaids.
~ Anna Connelly created the outdoor fire escape.
~ Walter Hunt created the safety pin.
~ Grace Murray Hopper invented COBOL, the first user-friendly business computer software program.
~ Jack St Clair Kilby created the microchip.
~ Arthur Wynne created the crossword puzzle.
~ Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper.
And then there was Einstein, the Wright brothers, Hildegard of Bingen, Louie Pasteur, Eli Whitney, Georgia O’Keeffe, and …

They all created.
Were they ever ‘immobile’? 

I was.
Why? 

Thoreau wrote “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.”   

The Deuteronomist wrote “Choose life!”

So, what did I have to lose?   I put some paint on a brush.  The brush touched the paper.   Creation?

Creation.   
Finally.

Another life lesson: 
… risk
… go confidently in the direction of your dreams
… choose life
… create. 

Because Temple Grandin did, an entire industry was changed because she decided to “Create.  Just begin.”

***************

© June Maffin
https://soulistry.com/blog
www.facebook.com/groups/soulistry
https://soulistry.com
www.medium.com//@junemaffin

This greeting card is the result of the above decision to “Create. Just begin.”

P.S. If you’ve not seen the movie about Temple Grandin, I hope you will – soon. What a remarkable woman – role model – pioneer – leader – visionary – human being.