Creativity and Labor Pains

Finding inspiration in a retreat given by Saint John Paul II, Maura Gentry reflects on creativity in motherhood.  

This past Lent, I began intentionally working my way through God is Beauty: A Retreat on the Gospel and Art by Karol Wojtyla (Saint John Paul II). Published by the Theology of the Body Institute, it also features commentary by Christopher West and various Catholic artists. The retreat was given by the great saint in Krakow, Poland in 1962 during Holy Week.  

The retreat is astoundingly beautiful, and I know that it is something I will continue to return to as I seek new ways to live out God’s call in my life. Saint John Paul II brings to this short exercise the breadth and depth of his theological, artistic, and human-centric studies. I would consider it required reading for Catholic artists, but it isn’t just for artists. As Saint John Paul II says in Lesson II,

If God is going to judge us on how we used our various talents, he will judge us on how we used our basic talent: the talent of our own humanity. This is the greatest talent. Why is it the greatest talent? Because God himself paid for our humanity.

Thus, whether or not we feel that individually we are artistically gifted, the gift of our humanity is the primary talent we are meant to embrace and mold and ultimately give back to God for His glory.  

The Labor Pains of Creativity 

My favorite quote from the retreat, though, came when Saint John Paul II likened the difficulties in creation of art to the pain experienced by a mother in labor:

One doesn’t create works of talent easily ... We know that they grow and mature in some kind of pain, the pain of creation, which shares a certain similarity with labor pains. There is an analogy between the order of nature and the order of creativity, between the order of nature and the order of art. (p. 29)  

This statement breathed new life into every artistic work I have been pursuing. I can see now how the struggle and the surrender and the beauty of birth have given me new eyes with which to see my creative endeavors. If I had only had this view of things when I was a performer in high school — how much more would I have practiced!   

Practically, though, it reminded me that the greatest gifts in life involve the greatest efforts to obtain them. God rewards our labor pains with blessings we can only begin to imagine. This is just as true for bearing children as it is for following the vocational path God has laid for us.  

Creativity in Motherhood 

As my son, a mild-mannered 17-month-old, grows into his toddler personality, I feel a different kind of labor pains. Testing my limits and learning how the world works, he is stretching my heart, as well as the bounds of my creativity.  

I’ll never forget the advice of a family friend at my baby shower: “Be creative in punishment,” she said. Her creativity led her to create a hockey-themed time out structure for her sports-loving son. Fun-loving creativity bore a solution that benefited the whole family.   

The retreat made me ponder where God is calling me to be creative in motherhood. As a storytime-loving librarian, one way I found to express my creativity was to bring finger puppets on an airplane trip and memorize a couple of stories to entertain our son with.   

I encourage you to ask yourself the same question: where is God calling you to be creative in motherhood? As moms, we perform many of the same duties for our families, but where we place our focus, find our enjoyment, and embrace our creativity is as individual to each of us as our fingerprints.   

Perhaps you love making an artsy chalkboard menu for family meals each week or carefully curating the décor around your home. Maybe you are great at including your kids in cooking and baking, coming up with ways for them to help in the kitchen. Or liturgical living is important to you, and you plan crafts or meals — or both — to commemorate important feast days.  

Creativity in motherhood is manifested in a myriad of ways. Our kids are constantly stretching, testing, and inspiring us. When we talk about family life being a labor of love, I think we should see it through the eyes of Saint John Paul II — as a beautiful work of art.  

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Copyright 2025 Maura Gentry
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