My daughter and I spent the evening crafting. Nothing fantastic, nothing fabulous, but it was really fun and it got me thinking. If you asked me a couple years ago, I would have emphatically told you that I am not creative or crafty. I suppose I could still say that, if by crafty and creative you mean that I make fabulous things every time I attempt them. I don’t. I make a lot of things that end up funny looking or end up in the garbage. So sad. BUT. I think it’s all an important part of the creative process. A process that I missed out on when I was someone who lived in the mindset that if I had the money to pay for something, I might as well consume rather than create.
The lifestyle change that I have undergone over the past 3 years has led me to be a person who at least tries something. I firmly believe that it’s not all about the end result, but about the process, the learning, and the experience. As my two kids and my hubby and I sat around the table tonight, making our little easter crafts, we laughed. We learned. We spent time together. And those things matter so much more than what our project looked like at the end.
I think I have always been a creative person. I have always had a passion for aesthetics – I love fashion, I love decor, I love little details that make things around me beautiful. For a long time, it was hidden. When I was a spender, I just bought stuff. I didn’t think about the alternative options of creating something myself instead that is beautiful. It never occurred to me that there was this whole other world full of passion, desire to learn and grow and change while creating beautiful things.
I think that it takes confidence to let yourself slip into a life of creativity. I think it takes the ability to stand in a store and trust that you can make something just as (or more) beautiful than someone else would be willing to walk in and pay for. And perhaps that confidence comes in immersing yourself in the process, making mistakes along the way, throwing botched projects away and trying again until you get it right.
I can’t think of anything that has been more fulfilling for me about adopting a life of living on less than that it led me to dig deep inside myself and find that confidence, find that creative streak and allow myself to enjoy the creative process.
What a beautiful point! Fear of failure so often holds us back from enjoying the process.
LexyB´s last blog post..Nicole Kidman getting high for Easter
[Reply]
yes, I enjoyed reading this too. We all are artist in our own way – it’s just finding what that way is. Blogging has certainly poked my creativity/crafting. For that, I am thankful.
Denise´s last blog post..equal blog time for all
[Reply]
You have a great way of just speaking plain truth.
Alana @ Gray Matters´s last blog post..Easter Pillowcase
[Reply]
I totally agree! I always say that living on one income has been the major contributor to fueling my creativity!
Manuela
the pleasures of homemaking´s last blog post..Blossoms
[Reply]
I really swear we’re twins sometimes, Em. I’ve been realizing over the last few weeks, as ideas and projects have run like a ticker-tape through my mind, “Hey, I guess this makes me a creative person. Huh.”
I also agree about enjoying a process that is separate from results. I made my first item of clothing sans pattern this month. I just gave myself permission to botch the hell out of it and just have fun. And I did. (And actually, it turned out just as I hoped, flaws and all.)
I feel blessed that my mom taught me at an early age to look at the world and think, “How would *I* make that?” That sense of creative curiousity gets buried from time to time, but it’s always there. Have fun with the crafts–you’re teaching that same idea to your children.
[Reply]
This was such a beautiful and simple post.
I am coming into my creativity more and more these days as well. Perhaps it’s because my daughter is nearing the age where we can really have fun making all sorts of things. My desire to create is rooted in the enjoyment I get from beautifying my surroundings, so I really relate to you on this.
You are right, it can be easier to buy “the look” but it sure feels good to have the confidence to dive right into a project regardless of the outcome. I can’t think of a better example for children!
Monica at Healthy Green Moms´s last blog post..My Quest For A Natural & Gentle Birth
[Reply]
Thanks for this post. I drool over others creative touches and talents and feel inadequate to start on my own. I have to start going out of my comfort zone and trying more creative things.
Niki´s last blog post..How to create and maintain a sourdough starter
[Reply]
I am an adult who was never allowed to make a mess! Due to extremely straightened circumstances, we had to look after each and every thing. As a consequence, I rarely break anything, spill anything, even get my hands particularly dirty. And I’m a keen gardener. I even went through two years of art college without making much of a mess. My hands would be so clean I would be teased, and of course, there was never any paint or anything on my clothes!
This has, to me, quite serious consequences as an artist. I cannot, for example, take a new sketchbook and make rough sketches in it – I consider that everything I do has to be right first time. I have only recently found a way around this by cutting unused pages out of books, gathering them in a folder and using them from there. Because they qualify as ‘old’ I seem to have given myself permission to experiement on them.
Making something on the basis that if it doesn’t turn out right, it can go in the bin, is quite alien to me, but it is a lesson that I wish I had learned years ago.
I am starting to feel that I am running out of time, that there have been many things I could have made (sculptures mainly) if only I had been prepared to fail.
This is such an important lesson you are giving your children. The things you write about are the education that schools will not provide – the chance to learn important life lessons in a loving, secure environment.
[Reply]
Thanks for sharing your thoughts…I like your comment about it not all being about the end product, but about the process, learning, and experience…this is soooo true for me in so many ways…I’ve been trying to explain this to others who do not seem to understand my creative process and need to experience things for myself in life and in crafting…good points…lessons to live and teach
[Reply]
I love your crafty side! And I really like that the kidos take stuff on with an open mind and have alot of fun. love DH.
[Reply]
“I think that it takes confidence to let yourself slip into a life of creativity. I think it takes the ability to stand in a store and trust that you can make something just as (or more) beautiful than someone else would be willing to walk in and pay for. And perhaps that confidence comes in immersing yourself in the process, making mistakes along the way, throwing botched projects away and trying again until you get it right.”
I’m quoting back to you because I love it when people quote my words back to me.
I’m pretty sure this is one of my favorite paragraphs you’ve ever written. I so appreciate your writing and thought–you put things into words that as soon as I read them I instantly connect to but would never be able to write myself.
Thanks so much for sharing your gift!
The Nester´s last blog post..Solution for that Hole Above the Fireplace
[Reply]
It’s sooo true! Also, I believe in making mistakes. I think that mistakes can lead to some really wonderful, surprising discoveries and can be beautiful in themselves!
Saver Queen´s last blog post..Frugal luxuries
[Reply]
Mom and daughter time is the best! I’m glad I found your blog …
[Reply]