Comparison & Creativity

Yesterday, I was reading Brene’ Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection and had an ah-ha moment. For the first time, I realized that the exercise of creativity is an effective tool against comparison.

Letting go of comparisons is not a to-do list item. For most of us, it’s something that requires constant awareness. It’s so easy to take our eyes off our path to check out what others are doing and if they’re ahead or behind us. Creativity, which is the expression of our originality, helps us stay mindful that what we are bringing to the world is completely original and cannot be compared. And without comparison, concepts like ahead or behind or best or worst lose their meaning. ~ Brene’ Brown

Don’t you love that?

So, I’m thinking next time I get online and compare my social life to my world traveler FB friend … I think I’ll go make something lovely in the kitchen instead. Or next time I click through and realize an author friend has hit the best-seller list, I’ll do some gardening. And maybe next time I berate myself because my radio show isn’t syndicated, I’ll throw myself into learning photography. And who knows, maybe next time I am tempted to compare my forty-ish frame to a twenty year old … I’ll sit down to write another chapter in that scandalous book I’m working on.

Mindful creativity keeps us from comparison.