Over Christmas I got together with some of my old class mates for wine
for breakfast and an absurd Secret Santa gift exchange (let me just say shovels,
candles that were not shaped like candles (?!) and key finders that will. not.
stop. beeping.), and one of my friends said something along the lines of ‘I
saw your blog… I like what you did there… but then I thought, what the hell
do you do with it?’. She wasn’t referring so much to the blog itself, but to
some of my crafts.
This really resonated with me, so I wanted to dwell on it for a moment.
In an earlier blog post, I mentioned that my buddy Frank and I live
by like to get out the sequin tub, some finger paint and get nasty crafty.
Let’s be honest, each one of us owns stuff we don’t actually need. That I-won’t-mention-what-it-is-for-anonymity’s-sake
item hat your dear friend got you, but simply… stands there, or that hideous
stupid hideous mug you got at the drugstore for signing up for the
payback membership card.
We don’t actually need any of these things, but owning them doesn’t necessarily
make us unhappy. Some of them simply look nice on the shelf or have sentimental
value!
Similarly, when crafting, functionality is not of upmost importance. Rather,
it is about the creative process itself.
It is about enjoying what you do, it is about being happy.
It is an outlet, it is an expression, it is your voice.
creativity = happiness.
Was it not Picasso who said that every child is in fact an artist; the
challenge however, is to remain an artist once one has entered the terrifying
world of mundane adulthood grown up.
In a way, it is much more difficult to be creative as an adult simply
because it is more difficult for one’s creativity to be recognized as such. As
a kid, carelessly speedily scribbling composing a picture of a
dinosaur-robot attack consisting of one uninterrupted orange brush stroke will
easily get you rewarded with a warm smile and sincere overwhelming felicitations.
At our age, it takes courage to fully devote oneself to one’s art, to reach that same admiration and to
overlook the rejection and judgment that comes with it.
If your craft makes you smile and enhances your overall well-being, keep
going!
And to all of you non-crafters out there, you do not require a 100 sheet
origami megapack to be creative! Nurturing creativity can help you master such
a simple task as cooking a meal or preparing for a business meeting!
We all have different talents, but can all be creative in executing them!
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