What does it take to be creative?
As I reflect on the past, I realize that
as I matured my creative passion grew more intense and purposeful. I married my first husband when I was
in my early twenties and I concentrated my creative juices to make a
comfortable and cozy home. Money
was scarce so my friends and I would spend hours going to tag sales, garage
sales, and junk sales searching for the perfect whatnot to create the cozy
living room or bedroom on pennies.
Through experimentation, I became more aware of how textiles could work
together, room arrangements and color combinations could be use to reflect personality
and mood, and collectables could add fun and whimsy to a home. When I cooked and baked I tried
not just to create yummy dinners and desserts, but also beautiful ones with
elegant presentations.
Many years later and, with a new husband, I moved
to North Carolina. My creativity has
flourished since our move because in times of quiet, my brain can rest and process and dream. My best ideas come to me when I’m
relaxed or not preoccupied with producing anything.
Creative
people dream new ideas and out of the box concepts and then actually set about to bring them into existence. Creativity takes time
and work and patience to nurture.
It involves learning lots of little skills and then figuring out how to
put them together to make something new and special. Creativity means setting fear aside and
putting your heart and soul into a creation (even if it may be criticized and rejected). Creativity can’t happen without risk. There are no right or wrong ideas. I try to trust my intuition. When I jump off and explore new ideas,
the positive energy comes right back to me in ways I had never imagined.
