{"id":636,"date":"2017-07-10T17:51:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T17:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=636"},"modified":"2025-12-31T15:49:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T22:49:05","slug":"creativity-motherhood-vs-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=636","title":{"rendered":"Creativity: Motherhood vs. Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

I met a woman recently who told me she had never pursued her art as fully as she wanted because her mother had discouraged her. She had been told she couldn\u2019t make money doing art\u2014that it wasn\u2019t practical.<\/p>\n

My heart broke for her.<\/p>\n

I could see her passion, and I could feel the hurt and hesitation that still crippled her inner artist. My immediate desire was to encourage her\u2014to counter the damage that had been done. I told her it was never too late, that she was already an artist.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I felt deeply grateful for my own parents, who have always encouraged and supported my creative pursuits.<\/p>\n

This beautiful woman is also the mother of six children.<\/p>\n

\n

Two Creative Callings, Equally Diminished<\/h3>\n

In addition to being saddened that she had been discouraged from pursuing art, my thoughts immediately turned to the ways motherhood itself is often diminished in modern society.<\/p>\n

Motherhood doesn\u2019t make money\u2014less money even than being an artist. And while I hope she hasn\u2019t suffered similar discouragement for her choice to be a mother, I\u2019m not optimistic. I\u2019ve encountered these attitudes too often to believe they are rare.<\/p>\n

It is a troubling reflection of our culture that two of the most profound forms of creativity\u2014art and motherhood<\/a>\u2014are so frequently dismissed as impractical, unworthy, or na\u00efve.<\/p>\n

\n

Creativity as a Divine Act<\/h3>\n

I cannot think of a higher or more divine form of creativity than the creation of human life.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I don\u2019t know a single artist who doesn\u2019t seek, in some way, to influence the world through their work. And is there any greater\u2014or more accessible\u2014way to influence the world than through the next generation?<\/p>\n

These are not lesser pursuits. They are among the loftiest goals a person can aspire to.<\/p>\n

Yet they are often discouraged in a society that claims women are capable and free enough to pursue anything they choose.<\/p>\n

\n

Reclaiming Creativity as Virtue<\/h3>\n

Creativity is a divine endowment<\/a>\u2014a unique and sacred gift given to humankind.<\/p>\n

It ought to be celebrated and re-enthroned as the virtue it is.<\/p>\n

Creativity transforms lives<\/a>: through a painting, a song, a story, an entrepreneurial endeavor, a delicious meal\u2014or through the quiet, noble work of motherhood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reflection on creativity, art, and motherhood\u2014and why two of the most powerful creative callings are too often undervalued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40,100],"tags":[89,88,23,87,90,24],"class_list":["post-636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creativity","category-motherhood","tag-artist","tag-career","tag-creativity","tag-infertility","tag-motherhood","tag-starving-artist","without-featured-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6v7yg-ag","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":220,"url":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=220","url_meta":{"origin":636,"position":0},"title":"Plan C: Make Lemonade","author":"normasue","date":"October 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A personal reflection on creativity, loss, and finding purpose when life doesn\u2019t follow the plan\u2014and how writing became my unexpected Plan C.","rel":"","context":"In "Creativity"","block_context":{"text":"Creativity","link":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"Creativity: a contingency","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_20151019_164554149-01-2.jpeg?fit=873%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_20151019_164554149-01-2.jpeg?fit=873%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_20151019_164554149-01-2.jpeg?fit=873%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_20151019_164554149-01-2.jpeg?fit=873%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2111,"url":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=2111","url_meta":{"origin":636,"position":1},"title":"Athena: The Mind That Builds","author":"normasue","date":"August 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Athena is more than the goddess of wisdom. 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