Food for Thought

Living the Creative Life

22 Comments

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“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”  —Maya Angelou

On Facebook last week, I learned that January is creativity month, very appropriate for many of us in the United States when the days are short, and the nights are cold. However, I can’t help but think that every month should be creativity month because it seems to me that creativity brings spark into our lives and helps give it meaning.

There are, of course, many different ways of being creative, from knitting and crocheting to sewing to writing to singing to taking pictures to cooking to gardening to weaving to making things great and small. As the current movie Hidden Figures illustrates, even math can be creative. The creative life does not follow one track nor should it. One of the beauties of creativity is the different forms it takes.

Nowhere is the scope of creativity more evident than through the  blogs I read. I follow many blogs, but the one feature they all share is an astonishing creativity—in all its various aspects. (Yes, I know there are blogs that are not so positive, but I don’t follow them.) When I read about the goings-on of my blog friends, what they create and how they live, I feel inspired and enlarged. It reminds me that there is much good in our species, something I need to keep in mind right now as the drum roll to repeal the Affordable Care Act gets ever louder.

I could feature any of the blogs I follow as prime examples of creativity, but for this post I want to focus on Melissa of The Aran Artisan and her incredible, nimble-fingered family. In “Creative Support for the Homeless,” a post written before Christmas, Melissa  told of how her family rented a table at a local craft fair. The post featured pictures of all the beautiful things she and her family made to sell, with proceeds going to “Galway Simon to show support for their work to end homelessness in our neighbouring mainland community.”

Readers, I’m not going to spoil the ending by revealing how Melissa and her family did at the craft fair. For that you must read her post to find out.

Creativity can also be, well, soothing. Last week, I had a sinus infection that made me feel  woozy. Fortunately, I wasn’t sick to my stomach, but every time I moved my head I felt dizzy, and even reading was a struggle—a very bad thing for me. One late afternoon, after forcing myself to do some household chores, I gave up and settled on the couch. I went to the Create TV channel, from American Public Television.

I learned the ins and outs of starting a llama farm business and then a soy candle business. I watched Pati make Mexican lasagne,  and I watched the recent instalment of This Old House and the progress they were making on an Arts and Crafts home. There was nothing negative, nothing harsh, just people doing a wide variety of creative things.

I know. We have to watch and read the news. We have to keep track of what is going on in the world, and all too often this isn’t pretty. But living creatively and following the creativity of others isn’t retreating from the world. Instead, for me, it provides a place of illumination and beauty, a way to recoup from the hustle and turmoil all too often created by our species.

This is not only good, but it is also necessary.

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22 thoughts on “Living the Creative Life”

  1. Inspiration, creative thought and expression are, to me, what it’s all about and why we are here. Like you wrote, it is soothing to witness how each of us puts ourself out into the world. No two alike, yet we feed off each other’s greatness. How cool is that? 🙂

    1. All of this you say is true & that makes me wonder if creative people are more nurturing towards other creative people, as opposed to being competitive with them. Something to notice – I am guessing yes.

  5. Aw, that made my day! I was in Galway City yesterday celebrating my oldest daughter turning 13 years old so am only now catching up on the computer. This mention took me by surprise and I’m sending a great big thanks to you!!

    Create TV? Never heard of it, but can imagine it’s very inspiring, and definitely beats watching major network news. MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour on Public Television is nicely unbiased though.

    2. ‘Twas my pleasure! You and your family are a source of inspiration, and your blog is a joy to read.

      Yes, the NewsHour is a great place to get unbiased news, and we watch it regularly. We do want to know what’s going on in the world. Just need a break every now and then.

      1. My dad jokes with me saying I’d be perfect if I would just read the newspaper or watch the news. US tv is worse than over here–I was reminded of this on my trip home in November. Shocking how many prescription medicine commercials there are, but no surprise with how horrific you feel after watching the news. News here isn’t much better. I’m find with my imperfections!! Sorry Dad 😉

  6. I am so glad that you featured Melissa’s post because I managed to miss it when she wrote it. Must have been all the holiday bustle. Her kids are fortunate to have so much support for their creative expression. I sometimes worry that most kids these days don’t have the uninterrupted time to just make things and let the creative juices flow.

  7. Laurie, thank you for visiting my blog, especially since it led me back to yours. I love your point of view on so many things, from your inner life to living in nature to your experiences in activism. I look forward to getting to know you through this marvelous connection we call the blogosphere 🙂

    1. Many thanks! The blogosphere is indeed a wonderful place to connect with like-minded people. Look forward to reading your posts.

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