The Soul's Masterpiece: Finding What Lights You Up

There is a quote from noted civil rights leader, Howard Thurman, that holds special, hard-won significance to me:  “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs.  Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

To say that I have found what makes me come alive is certainly my good fortune, but it too easily glosses over the arduous journey of finding it. Finding the pot at the end of the soul’s-purpose rainbow is certainly the goal, but it’s the ‘finding’ part that I’d like to focus on just a minute before frolicking in the pot of gold.

So many of us spend our lives focused on what we should do, what is practical, and what is expected of us.  But there is something beautiful and powerful that happens when we make space for creativity, wonder, and self-expression; we remember who are beneath the looming deadlines, the clanging alarm clocks, the eternal to-do lists, and the ubiquitous dirty laundry. We start to catch glimpses of ourselves dreaming of another possibility, another way of being.  Every smile around a canvas, every paint-splattered shirt, every moment of laughter shared over a creative project is evidence of something bigger–people reconnecting with what makes them come alive.  

At House of Athena Creative Retreats, we believe that creativity is not a luxury in life; it is a beckoning, a lit pathway back to ourselves through a dark forest of must-do lists, looming bills, and dirty dishes.  Our creative retreats aren’t about creating perfect art; they’re about creating space to explore, discover, play, and awaken the Rip-Van-Winkle parts of ourselves that get buried beneath everyday life– house cleaning, Zoom meetings, and fixing dinner. Again.  I like to think of these creative art retreats as an excavation–an archeological dig site–a great unearthing of our awakened souls to bring more joy, courage, and inspiration for others to come with us–and the world is in dire need of that right now.  The world doesn’t need more busy people–it needs more inspired ones.  The heart of our retreats isn’t just teaching art–its helping people connect with the part of themselves that feels most alive, creative, curious, and inspired–the suffocating parts of us that we almost forgot about after hours of daily doom-scrolling. 

Words of advice when looking for that pot of soul-awakened gold: take the trip, book the vacation, make the art, play with paint, get your hands dirty—because your most important masterpiece will not be the painted flowers on a canvas, it will be the life you create when you follow what lights you up.