Article February 19, 2007 Issue

Live a creative life— with a healing purpose

BY BILL MOODY

SADIE CAME TO US from a shelter in New Orleans, Louisiana. She traveled by herself all the way to Massachusetts to be in her new home. Sadie was only three months old, so she had never flown on an airplane before. My wife and I drove to the airport to meet her when she arrived. Sadie made us smile the first time we saw her. That's what she does—just naturally. She makes people smile.

You've probably guessed by now that Sadie is our dog. Yet you might be wondering why I'm writing about a dog in a discussion on living a creative life with a healing purpose. Well, I suppose that everyone who has a dog knows how special their dog is, and that might be a good enough excuse. But, actually, as I was thinking about what it takes to bring imaginative, fresh, insightful, solution-filled ideas to everyday life, one of the first qualities I thought of was spontaneity. I thought how a creative life would have to be a spontaneous life—in other words, lived with a readiness to be part of something new and wonderful each moment. Then I thought how the purpose of a creative life would involve bringing joy into the lives of others. And all of this must necessarily have a healing impact on the world around us.

Sadie, I realized, had been teaching me these very things. She's all grown up now, but she's still naturally spontaneous. Everywhere she goes, she loves everyone she meets, and that readily imparts a joy to others.