Ok, this may not sound like epiphany material, but to me it was.Well, let me start by explaining something you may or may not already know about me:
I have to make stuff. I have to. Some people need to garden or run or cook or whatever, but for me, doing creative projects has always been one of the necessities in life. I'm one of those master of none folks. I like to try things and play and I'm not terribly interested in following patterns and instructions that require math and precision and expertise.
The problem, though, is that I tend to believe that I want to try everything, and even though I don't want to follow rules, there's a part of me that wants to Do Things Correctly. It can be boggling and prohibitive.
The other day, though, I realized that just because I want to try everything doesn't mean that I have to love everything. And more importantly, if I don't love something that I expected to love... I don't have to do it ever again!
This was a marvelous realization. And if I acquire supplies for something that I decide to never do again, someone else will be happy to take those supplies off my hands. Which means (bonus realization) that I don't have to worry so much about being wasteful!
This, along with the wonderful book, Wreck This Journal, by Keri Smith, has freed up some creative energy that had been kind of unfortunately stuck for some time.
Some of the many things I do love: photography, writing, crocheting, playing with raw wool (including dying it, as seen above, and carding it and needle-felting), drawing sketchily, unconventional watercoloring, paper-making, soap-making, baking alone, cooking with friends, sewing badly, mosaics, mixed media collage/painting, container gardening...
A few things it turns out I do not love: rolling felted wool beads, following knitting or crocheting patterns, trying to paint things that look real, being yelled at while baking cookies.
Now I'm really looking forward to finding out what else I do and don't want to do some more of!
(Starting tomorrow. It's past my bedtime.)
5 comments:
You just like to keep it spicy!
BTW - Rosemary and Walnut scones sound heavenly!
"...being yelled at while baking cookies."
That's terrible. I'm a cookie baker from way back and can speak from experience on this, perfect cookies require the baker to be centered, calm, and feeling the love.
Steph, that cracked me up! I will now practice thinking of myself as spicy!
And Mr.Gnu, I'm sure you would never yell while baking. But someone did. Someone who shall go unnamed. Luckily, it was in my adulthood, so my earliest cookie-baking memories are still quite lovely. :)
Thinking of cookies, I made Valentine's Day cookies for the kids a bit early this year. I've posted pictures, if you'd like to see. :)
http://26monkeys.blogspot.com/2009/02/valentines-day-cookies.html
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