My life is richer when I create, whether it is a tasty meal, a message to a friend, words on a page, a video connecting me to people on the other side of our wonderful planet, or a painted stick.

I have recently become aware of how many authors express themselves in different ways alongside their writing.

I have an author friend in the UK who paints, using colours in such a beautiful way. Her paintings are not illustrations from her fantasy novels, they are another expression of her imagination and desire to express emotions.

Another author I connect with has begun experimenting with spray paint, creating atmospheric scenes, ethereal landscapes, and other worldly planets hanging in the night sky. She is allowing her emotions and experiences to pour from her soul and manifest in a visual manner as well as continuing to write her fantasy novels.

Many children’s book authors also illustrate, telling their stories through words and drawing, the combination enhancing the written word and deepening the meaning of the pictures.

Other authors make exquisite jewellery, allowing their creativity to shine on other people, or beautiful bookmarks or merchandise linked to their stories.

Writing a story, creating a painting, drawing, making jewellery…the list is endless, all begin with an idea and then the discovery of the best medium in which to express it.

But where do the ideas come from? Why does being creative lift our spirits, fill us with inner joy, give purpose to our being alive, and leave us with a wonderful sense of satisfaction?

I think we have an innate desire to express our emotions, experiences, understanding of the world in a way we can share. It is an inborn human trait, not limited to authors or an elite few talented people.

We are all creatives.

With the explosion of social media, more and more people are expressing themselves through emojis, photos, words, and videos.

Our early ancestors expressed being and belonging by resting a hand on a cave wall, blowing coloured soil over it, and leaving an outline of their hands for others to see. Their art expanded to show the animals they saw, hunted, and ate. They told stories of their lives through drawing on the walls. Our ancestors didn’t have the concept of time as modern humans do and I doubt they drew for posterity or even imagined their drawings would be seen by us, thousands of years later. But their simple drawings have connected us across the years.

But can you imagine something you have created being seen and understood thousands of years into the future? Wow. I’m not sure if that is a comfortable thought or a scary one.

However, I don’t think we write, paint, draw, design, etc to be remembered, even though many believe that is why they do it.

I think we do it because we can, because we need to, because it helps us to understand the world in which we live and our relationship with it, because it connects us with people we may never meet.

I also think our artistic expression comes from our intrinsic link with nature.

Nature expresses life in the yellow petals of a buttercup, the unfurling of a fern frond, the swelling of red fruit hanging from a branch.

Nature expresses death in the stunning variety of red and orange leaves in autumn, the curling beauty of a dry stem of grass, white blossoms their purpose fulfilled floating to the ground like confetti.

Nature expresses hope and re-growth in the ephemeral fungi feeding on a rotting log, the first light green leaf of spring, a flower bud with it’s promise of so much more.

With all this expression of the world around us, how can we not be inspired to create?