Hello readers! I come to you from a rainy and soggy Nashville with a piping hot cup of tea and a lot on my mind.
More specifically, creativity.
I may have written about this before, but I can’t seem to recall or find anything on my blog. Perhaps on an older iteration, but I am too lazy to look that far back in time.
I have been interested in many creative outlets for a long time. I enjoyed art class when I was in elementary school. I absorbed music lessons in piano, violin and vocals. I have always loved writing and editing. I devour books, articles and essays. I learned how to knit when I was in high school and even knitted while I was in class. I’m still shocked my teachers let me do it, but it did help me concentrate!
I sew, I craft, I crochet, I cross-stitch, I paint.
And, of course, there’s Bullet Journaling and the myriad of skills that comes with that–doodling, handwriting, calligraphy, design.
What I’m trying to say is, I have always been interested creating something, but I have also always had a problem with settling on something to work on. I get distracted. There’s too much!
I picked up crochet again this weekend after coming across a gorgeous infinity scarf pattern I fell in love with on Instagram from The Hook Nook. It’s officially fall now, and I want to be prepared for the cooler weather with a colorful and warm scarf. You need color when it starts to get cold and gray. Otherwise, I think it’s too sad.
Sidenote: Despite my passion for the yarn arts, it only just yesterday occurred to me that I should be following some knitting and crochet accounts on Instagram. Why am I just now coming to this realization??? I am so happy it came to my mind. Duh!!
As I sat down to begin my project, my mind began to wander up to my desk and my notebooks and all of the other things I had planned and wanted to do this weekend. I felt guilty for not doing what I’d intended, but then I know I would also feel guilty for heading upstairs instead of spending time on this new project adventure I wanted to take.
I’m quite impulsive when it comes to projects. I will lose interest at the drop of a hat if I find something I think would be more fun. I’ve heard it spoken about in creative writing. I think V.E. Schwab talked about the shiny and new idea that you want to work on because it’s different and more exciting than trodding through a solid idea you’ve laid out and have been executing for a while. Familiarity can seem like boredom.
Of course, these thoughts began to take over and I started to feel guilty for even having the ability to switch between creative media to find something new and fun and different.
For the first time, though, another thought came in. I usually let myself go down the rabbit hole of guilt and shame for not being really good at one thing instead of being sort of good at many things.
My new thought was about how awesome it is that I have the ability, the time and the money (arguably) to invest in new creative adventures. Why is having a choice a bad thing? Generally, we want to be able to choose what we work on next. Having too many skills to choose from to find creative fulfillment is a good thing.
I wanted to put this out there in case any of you ever feel this way. I want to point out how amazing it is that you have these skills in your life and it’s OK to shift back and forth. We have emotional moods, so why not have creative moods?
In the end, we don’t have to do any of it. We get to do it.
What do you all think? Do you have a long list of creative skills? I’d love to hear about them! And what are you working on right now?
Allison Leora 