The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

This quote has been resonating with me as of late and is the theme of one of my current writing projects. I love to create. It could be sewing a dress for my daughter, cooking up a new Thai dish, or decorating a room in my house. In every case it’s: here, look, I made this. There’s just something about creating something from raw materials that brings out my happy gene.

My children have it too. One would draw and color all night long if we let her and another spends hours building with legos and raiding our recycling bin for robot-building materials. One child films the most amazing stop-motion videos and plans to be an inventor when he grows up. My oldest is a piano virtuoso who composes music so beautiful I literally cry listening to her play—she plans on writing film scores for a living. If you can’t tell, I’m pretty proud of my little creative lot, which makes me realize parents feel this yearning too. Being proud of our kids is like saying: here, look, I made this.

Which brings me to writing. I think it may be the most ideal medium for creation. We create characters, conflict, entire worlds…there are no limits to what we can make. And a good writer leaves enough room for readers to fill in gaps with their own ideas and imaginings, letting them become creators in their own right. And when we finish that story, we can’t help but want others to share in our joy: here, look, I made this. It just feels so good.

So my challenge for you today is to create something and find joy in the process of creating it. 🙂

Do you have that yearning to create? What’s your favorite ‘creation’?

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Ilima Todd was born and raised on the north shore of Oahu and currently resides in the Rocky Mountains. She never wanted to be a writer even though she loves books and reading. She earned a degree in physics instead. But the characters in her head refused to be ignored, and now she spends her time writing science fiction for teens. Ilima is the author of the REMAKE series (Simon Pulse/Shadow Mountain) and is represented by Lane Heymont of The Seymour Agency. When she is not writing, Ilima loves to spend time with her husband and four children.