Every day upon waking, and enjoying my morning coffee, I
have three choices of how I will proceed with my day. I ask myself, today, will I be a writer,
feeling the need to get a story or essay written? Are the words taking up space
in my mind, almost forcing me to take pen to paper? Am I a paper crafter,
wanting to create something new with the copious amounts of pretty paper in my
work room? Perhaps I can make some new journals? Maybe today I’m going to work
on teaching outlines for my daughter, make a new home schooling binder, print
out worksheets for her to complete, and I will be a teacher. Each day, these
are the questions swirling around in my creative mind, wrestling with each
other, and no I am not multiple personality!
I do however have three very distinct outlets for my
creativity. I am a writer, a paper crafter and teacher to my daughter.
When creativity strikes, it is all encompassing. There could
be words swimming in my head that have a need to come together, and I cannot
properly focus on anything else. A color combination or a great gift idea may
come to mind, or I may have a flash of brilliance, a scholastic idea pops into
my mind that I just need to incorporate into my daughters teaching routine. If
I do not satiate my creative idea right away, I have a dull ache that takes
over my body.
When I go a few days without creating, my body reminds me,
by throwing me a headache, or I become restless and unfocused.
I came across this photo today on Facebook, and it just
struck a chord with me.
There are a few
circumstances in my life, which leave me wishing someone could honestly say
these words to me.
Today I wish someone could tell me that they know how
frustrating it can be to have multiple creative outlets and the struggle that
comes with choosing which one to nurture on any given day. I suppose I don’t
surround myself with enough people that are “like” me, but I have never
considered it a qualification of friendship.
I know people who are very creative. Some of them have a
love for art, writing, playing instruments, or singing. They are all so
talented and have a single driving passion. I have three. They equally engage
me, they equally bring a smile to my lips, and they equally satisfy a hunger in
me. And every day, they equally rival for my attention. I wonder to myself,
could this be right? Is it possible I just think that they are all equally
important to me? The blessing to this, is that ideas pass through each other,
dripping their essence into my heart and mind, while I am busy being creative!
The downfall is that I become so engrossed in my work, that I forget the world
is still involved around me. Hours pass without me being aware of them! Sometimes
logic has to win, it could be that I have a writing deadline, other times I
have a show coming up or a special order that needs to be ready, so I am
crafting all day and into the evening, days upon days. It is what takes the
most of my time and I suppose wins the wrestling match more often than not.
Teaching my daughter is a necessity, and sometimes has to
win the match against all odds, against all desires of my heart. Some days,
that are truly brilliant in their own right, I get to do all three. Those are
my best days. Those are the days I go to bed, and realize, that I had a perfect
teaching opportunity, I created something new in my craft room, and I took the
time to write.
These are things I cannot calendar, I cannot schedule, I
cannot force.
There are days that one of these creative forces speaks a
little bit louder than the others, and I listen. There are days, I wish that I
could be happy just to choose one. But how do you let go of something that
feels so good?
Do you wrestle with creativity? Share your story with me,
because it would mean so much to know that someone knows exactly how I feel!
Thanks for stopping by.
Tannis
