Call it Mother Nature, female intuition, or DNA, the lineage of the feminine creative lives through us all. Embracing your creativity is empowering. It connects us all like notes in a symphony, orderly yet freely moving vibrations in time and space, sounding beautiful when aligned. The feminine creative expression is in all of us and our part is to find it, develop it, and allow that part of us to come out in daily expression. Not necessarily to become an artist, per se, but, allow it to surface and enjoy that part of our selves. We can learn to ask the right questions so we don’t repeat mistakes, trusting that in time and with persistence our best comes forth. What do I need to know? How can I get this? How can I do this better? Trying to reframe it in the positive keeps us open to receive the “right answers” and allows us to live creatively and be a positive influencer. Honoring the feminine creative means doing your personal best at all times. Because, when the heart/mind is in the right place, that is the only thing you can do anyway . . . Live creatively!

Music happens to be my maternal lineage and creative “must.” It is what I resonate with, the way I see and hear life through the ear of music or the organization of sound. My perception of this feminine line is that women are the ultimate creators. Women bring things into existence not only through childbirth; we also bring into existence new ideas and nurturing teams. We sometimes forget that our creativity unites us in our challenges, whether in the current, more epicene roles or the traditional female roles like sewing and crafting, cooking, gardening and running a household—good skills for everyone to have. Hopefully, we are teaching our children to grow up with excellent values and to become self-actualized individuals, embracing the feminine and masculine equally.

Yes, men also create and do many wonderful things. My own father used some very creative thinking while risking his life to save a battalion of men miles deep into the enemy lines in the Korean War for which he received our nation’s 2nd highest medal, the Distinguished Service Cross; a Silver Star for going back three days later with only three men to get the captured few; and two Bronze Stars one with Valor WWII. When my dad died at age 41, I, at age 14, suddenly had big shoes to fill — my mom went back to work, my sister only 5, and we had practically nothing. Mom even campaigned for the ERA because we had to live on her reduced salary, even though she was doing a man’s job. Now, women engage in battle, yet we are still subjected to the societal messages that we are the weaker of the sexes. Still, I’m thrilled to see young women fulfill themselves in any role they so desire today. I am blessed to be able to make a living as an artist and hope in some small way as a Grammy Winning vocal-recording artist, music educator, and licensed sonic therapist, that I am a role model for living creatively and to help others find their purpose.  

One of the most difficult jobs parents and mentors have, is to prepare the child to live their own life. I learned in a sermon I heard as a teen, to “honor your father and mother means to honor that sacred part of only you, to become the best person God intended you to be.” It’s difficult to break out of limiting social structures, religious beliefs, cultural attitudes, and parental expectations to become your true self. But when we all trust that instinctual “feminine creative” and apply it to all that we can do at home, with children and elders, at work and yourself, the world becomes a better place. I hope to challenge and encourage all, to liberate the victim and embrace the feminine creative solution. This is what my mother and I learned going through life. Unlike my sister born deaf with no ears, I was not able to fulfill that feminine creative of bearing children due to a hysterectomy at 26 from severe endometriosis. Yet I persisted in fulfilling my version of the creative, feminine dream, with “birthing” 9 albums on my label, composing music, singing, playing piano, teaching voice, helping others to heal and grow through music.

I believe it is this ability to release your creative feminine energy, creating your own world as appropriate for you – that drives us all to do what we do. Especially for women, to influence, assist, lead, teach, to help others know who they are, to be strong and courageous and save us from destroying ourselves. We can honor that gift of self by tapping into the feminine creative and thus create a better world.

Darlene Koldenhoven, M.M.V. & B.M. Ed. has a Grammy Award and 3 nominations and several #1 award-winning albums. She is a licensed sonic therapist and has authored Tune Your Voice: Singing and Your Mind’s Musical Ear, a book with 7 instructional CDs. More at DarleneKoldenhoven.com