I have never described myself as creative.
But I have always liked to make things. Even as I child, I built things. I didn’t buy a Barbie house, I made one out of cardboard. Painted it and everything. I loved it.
It only took me 40 years to figure out that making things brings me joy. I get such a rush of happiness when items are completed. I love the start of a project when I am picking out the materials. I even love just seeing them get built although I can be a little impatient when it comes to the building process. I like things to move quickly. But, that feeling I get when I finish something is the best feeling. A feeling of accomplishment. I like to make things that are useful, and that also brings joy because I know that I will use them or the people that I make them for will use them. I feel like I am helping the greater good by doing something handmade vs. store bought. And, I am building all kinds of skills that could be useful if the world ever descends into chaos and we have to go back to doing everything by hand. Who knows? 😉
Sometimes, I forget the joy, and I can go for months or years without doing a single craft project or fiber art. Sometimes, this is depression caused because I lose all interest in anything that brings me joy. But most of the time, it is because I am sucked into the TV or my phone and I lose myself for hours and then there is no time to do the things that bring me joy. And please understand that I really get sucked into TV. I call it “the magical box with the moving pictures” and I can’t even have a conversation with another person when I am watching because it is too distracting to me. Seriously, it is the most addicting thing for me. So turning it off is a huge challenge.
This year though, I am getting to back to the creative, maker side of me.
I am rediscovering how much I love to create.
And to be real, I give most of the credit to the fact that I had to trim my budget and turn off all my TV subscription services and cut my cable back to the most basic of things. When you only have ten channels of cable and really no other outlets to go watch TV, you really do find other ways to fill your time. I am finding that I love to turn the TV off now and go write or sew or knit. Because when I am done, I have something useful and I feel great. TV generally doesn’t make me feel that way.
Last night, I even discovered that I could both watch a movie and knit. Now, the knitting had to be really easy so I could look away quite a bit, but I did it, and I feel great today about my progress.
But as I discover how much I like to create again, I have all kinds of projects lined up, and I hope I can keep the motivation up to do them. Fabric grocery bags, knitted scarfs, baby blankets, purses, and somewhere along the way, I might finish learning how to crochet. So, look out for some posts in the future about the new creations and what I am learning along the way. The creative in me is coming out, and I can’t wait to let her loose.
Here’s to a creative new year of discovery. 🙂