Creativity

I have discovered that if I don’t do something creative at least every second day I am not able to function as a productive human being. By creative I mean something like crafts, art, writing or even baking. Baking, if it’s something that I’m creating and not just making from a recipe. If I don’t do things that speak to my soul I start to feel lethargic and unmotivated. When I was teaching at the nursery school it was never a problem because being creative is all in a day’s work. Now, running a shop and doing the admin does not always include creative activities. One is not allowed to be creative when doing bookkeeping. Creative bookkeepers usually end up in prison and I have no intention of going there.

I think because of the way people were created there is something that was placed inside each person that makes him (or her) need certain things to be fulfilled. Obviously there are the usual things like shelter and food and love but then just one step further there’s that thing that calls to your soul, to the inner part of you that you can’t see with your eyes but you can feel it. I have friends who have the need to be neat and tidy and orderly and that’s who they are. I love going to their houses and seeing that everything has a place and everything is in that place. I do wish that I could be that tidy but I really don’t see it happening. When I feel the inspiration to create something and I know exactly what I want to do, I can’t see dishes that aren’t washed. Seriously, they become totally invisible. There’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve tried. Often.

Another thing about being creative is that sometimes I will go shopping with a clear idea of what I want to buy but then I will see something else that totally and completely takes my breath away and I forget what I really wanted. Like when I received a gift voucher for my birthday. I went to the store knowing that I wanted mascara and hairspray. Then I saw eye shadow. Not just any old eye shadow. The colours were so beautiful that I had to buy it. Two weeks later I remembered what I was actually going to buy!!

Then a few weeks ago my husband and I went to Makro to buy stock for our shop. I quickly wandered (is it even possible to wander quickly?) around the stationery department and I saw a pad of pink cardboard. Not just normal pink though – 5 shades of pink. Even though pink isn’t my favourite colour by a long shot, I fell head over heals in love with this pink card and I had to have it.   Strangely enough it never happens with a dress or shoes or groceries…

Most of my family are also very creative so they accept me the way I am. I thing mostly my husband endures me the way I am but he has also realized that after 29 years of marriage there’s never a dull moment. He definitely doesn’t know what to expect next.

There’s a quote that I really love.It’s attributed to Rod Siltanen,but if this isn’t really his quote please forgive me. One cannot even trust Google these days.

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them,

glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones,

we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough

to think they can change the world,

are the ones who do.

Out of the box

Have you ever tried to get out of the box? Have you even just tried to look outside of the box? Just a peek? And what happened? You started seeing the possibilities and the freedom and then you worked up the courage to tell someone about it. You shared your vision. Down came the hammer. BAM! Someone crushed those dreams. Sometimes dreams can be destroyed without even using words. A look or an attitude can be enough to leave the floor full of shards. Most people don’t want others to rise up above their circumstances or to go beyond what is considered safe.

How many of us have advised out children to pursue a career that is stable and offers a pension plan and medical benefits? Why do we do it? To prevent them from following their dreams? Not at all. We mainly want to protect them against financial hardship. Nobody wants to see his child struggle. But isn’t it the struggles and the battles that make us tough and grow character? Isn’t it true that if we haven’t been through troubles and faced our giants that we aren’t really going to have much of a backbone?

Anyway, to come back to the box, I do think that a lot of the time the ones who upset our apple carts only want to help us. Sometimes however there are those who are jealous and just like to rain on your parade. It really doesn’t matter what the motives of the thundercloud is, we have to decide in our own minds what we really want. We can’t allow people to decide for us what it is we need. If I am really passionate about something then I must go after that thing with my whole heart. I must be willing, no eager, to practice it every day. I remember reading a little joke where the teacher told the class that if you want to cultivate a new habit you had to repeat it 30 times to make it yours. A girl at the back of the class obviously only half-heard. She started repeating over and over: Michael, Michael, Michael …

What is a box, or rather, what is your box? I see anything that keeps you from reaching your potential as a box. How did you get into that box? Were you born in it? No! Little children have imagination and they believe they can do anything. Somewhere along the way you believed something that stopped you from reaching your potential and fulfilling your destiny. Family, friends, culture, religion or the media could have influenced you. Did they put you in the box? No, you did. You put yourself into that box by believing certain things about yourself. Those things don’t even have to be true, you just have to believe them.

How do you know if what you think you want to do really is what you should be doing? If you really want to do something then go after it. If you wake up in the morning thinking about it and go to sleep at night planning what you are going to accomplish the next day it’s very good sign. I listened to a very good talk about following your dreams. If you are really passionate about something that passion will reflect in the way you do it and then there will be a gap in the market for what you do. Even a cheese sandwich made with passion is a cut above the rest. I love art and I love writing. I love a lot of other things too like gardening and sewing but art and writing are at the top of my list. When I paint (create something artistic) or write I feel alive. I feels like something inside of me has been ignited. It feels like this is what I have been created for. I completed quite a few canvasses this year so far, they are mixed media so I feel I shouldn’t say I ‘painted’ because painting was only a part of what I did. I also enrolled in a creative writing course at the beginning of December and I’ve just completed my fifth assignment. I told my husband that I am not going to wait until I retire so that I can do what I’m passionate about. I’m going to start practising so that when I get to retirement I’ll be used to it. So every day I do something creative. I have also hung my art in our shop and put prices on it. That is huge for me because it feels like I am exposing my soul and becoming vulnerable. I am opening myself up for criticism. I don’t know if anyone will buy anything but I feel like I can call myself an artist. Even if people just look at the work and feel the emotion I will be happy.

Go after your passion. Don’t hide your light under a bushel or a bucket or what you believe about your abilities. You were created for a purpose and if you don’t get out of the box you are never going to see it happen.