Creativity

 A couple of years ago, I started trying to balance productivity with creativity and other pursuits that allow my mind to wander with no intended destination. The purpose was not so much to step out of my box as to expand its walls so that I'd learn to appreciate the act of creativity or cogitation itself, rather than only crediting myself if the finished product checked a box.

In the interim, I've spent more time on word puzzles, collages, and even crocheting. I've considered the uses of mindfulness beyond meditation and expanded my definition of creativity. I've continued to look for interesting ways to organize my home and my life and to add pops of color to my house as I redecorate and reconfigure spaces.

The collages have been my favorite, allowing me to play with colors, and textures, and layers -- something that's an important part of writing, albeit from a different angle. I used to love doing these for friends when I was in college, using words and scraps from magazines and newspapers to incorporate their personalities onto the page.

With my collages now, I'm looking less for defining characteristics and more for interesting combinations -- another thing that matters a lot in writing. Reading about junk journaling and trash collages has allowed me to see junk mail, paper scraps, and broken things as potential ingredients in something larger and more interesting.

Having always defined creativity in traditional and somewhat narrow terms, I never really thought of myself as creative in the visual arts. My sketches don't look like the objects or people I use as my inspiration. I'm not particularly adept at painting, nor do I have the patience for it (unless, perhaps, it's paint by numbers). I can execute a chain stitch, a single stitch, and a double stitch in crochet, and I can sew a reasonably straight seam, but I lack faith in my ability to turn those basic skills into a finished product that resembles much of anything useful.

Clearly, I've muddled creativity and productivity, but, as I've explored creativity, and expanded my definitions, I've actually begun to rethink all of this. The simple act of creativity itself has so much to offer, whether or not it becomes something more. 

And so I'm very excited to explore the newest addition to my bookshelf, which arrived on Saturday and which I opened almost immediately. A simple, but colorful list of 1001 creative pursuits, it promises to expand my definition, and the walls of that original box, even further. I hope that, by extension, I'll increase my appreciation for my own creative instincts, impulses and abilities as well.

Definitely a fun way to start a new year. 

What creative pursuits will you incorporate this year?