to thine own self: part III create

Let me make one thing clear.

Creativity is not defined as the ability to design.  This is a fallacy that our society has imposed.

Creativity is defined as the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination.

Every human is creative. Alas, it is part of what makes us human.  It is why we have the Golden Gate Bridge and the internet and Godiva cheesecake. Oh God bless the soul who created Godiva cheesecake!

You, sitting here, reading this! You are creative. And guess what. You should be using that creativity and I'll tell you why.

The creative energy that resides in each of us is not benign. It is energy and is has to go somewhere. Somebody figured that out a long time ago using their creativity. I think it was Newton maybe.

E_potential -> action

So you have this energy inside of you. And if it isn't being used it gets stored, like fat, in our cells. Often it will metastasize. Which isn't good. This means it mutates into something else. Something ugly. 

Just what it becomes is varied. Everyone is different. But the feeling that we all get from this mutant energy is the same. It feels like anxiety. Like listlessness. Like agitation.

Remember when you were a kid and you were stuck in the back seat on a long road trip and you were unable to get out and play? Remember how you would have an overwhelming urge to tease your sibling or annoy your parents? That's the feeling I'm talking about. 

People are happier when they are exercising their creativity. They are more content. Their self-esteem is higher. They are better people. Period.

Now, here is the last part of my personal happiness plan. Ready?

Be creative.

That's it. Create something. Anything. Today and tomorrow and every other day after that. 

And don't worry- I've heard all the excuses about no time, no money, no ideas. 

To hell with circumstances. Create opportunity.  Bruce Lee said that.

It's not easy. Nothing worth doing is ever easy. Usually when I am working on a project I have to stop a billion times to change a diaper, get a snack, break up a fight, answer the phone or make a meal.  I can't afford to buy the top of the line supplies all the time. Sometimes I try and try and try to get something right until I am so frustrated I can hardly stand myself. It's not easy.


Sometimes you have to push boundaries. Think outside the box to make things work.

I recently saw a film that perfectly illustrates what it means to create opportunity. Here's a clip:

You were born to create. Fulfilling this potential will bring you joy. This I know for sure.

Start today. 

trying

source unknown

A few years back my bff talked me into taking a ballet class.

She is a born dancer.

I am not.

But I liked the idea of having an excuse to buy a tutu and ballet slippers.  I'm all about the get-up. I started playing tennis for the same reason. Am I the only one out there that finds tennis skirts irresistible? It always boils down to fashion does it not?

So I agreed.  I went faithfully for a month or two but I got to the point where I just couldn't bear the embarrassment one more week. I was the girl in the back two steps behind.  The galumping ogar that fell into the other ballerinas. The clown. Can't you just see me in your mind's eye? It's not that hard to imagine.  It was a debacle.

I gave it my best shot. I really did.

When I started illustrating, I didn't think much  of it. Ideas just seemed to flow down my arm and out through the pen.  I was just doodling.  Nothing serious.  It was relaxing.

When I try to make my illustrations look like the ones my favorite artist draw they look ridiculous. I feel ridiculous.

As hard as I try, I can't seem to be anything other than just plain old me.  So I've decided to be okay with that. 

I just need to be the best me possible.

And I'm holding out hope that The Bird can dance. I'll get that tutu one way or the other.

on becoming happy

The thing about being a housewife is that you must embrace it fully or you'll never survive.

For years I bucked against the system. I was sure that the good Lord intended for me to be the next top editor at Harper and Collins.

I wore my hair in a pixie. I bought designer make-up and expensive black clothes. I was chic and unhappy. Whatever.

Malphi

One of life's great truths is that babies soften you. I didn't know who I really was until I saw myself reflected in my children eyes. I didn't know that I loved to crochet until I made the boy's baby blanket. I didn't know I loved to bake until I baked a birthday cake.

There is an old story about an African farmer who, upon hearing that other men were becoming rich by finding diamond mines, sold off his land and went in search of his fortune. He searched for many years and died a poor man. Meanwhile, the young family who bought his land discovered crusty old rocks in the soil which turned out to be diamonds.

Sometimes you are sitting on a fortune. Sometimes you have to do a little work to uncover your diamonds. What looks like ugly rocks, could be just the thing you are looking for to make you happy.

Constança

I find housework is made much more enjoyable by the wearing of aprons. I consider them my uniform. I wear them to cook. I wear them to silversmith. I wear them to rock my baby to sleep. They help me take the tarnish off my life.

They make me feel official. They make me feel like a resourceful woman.

They make me feel like a diamond in the rough.