Time to be Me
From a very young age, I was happiest while engrossed in a book, or sitting quietly somewhere with paper, sellotape and scissors creating yet another masterpiece of engineering. As I grew, the focus shifted from paper & sellotape to various other things. Since the age of about 6, I have finished several cross stitches of varying sizes, almost built a model boat (it just needs painting!), drawn, knitted, made jewellery, tried tatting, attempted crochet, sewed, written, and many other crafty and creative things. Even with all this, it wasn’t until last year that I finally connected the dots and realised how fulfilling and connected all this creativity was.
As I worked my way through the school system, then through university, I lost some of this along the way. I stopped taking time out to mess around with raw materials and see what I could create. I channeled what creativity I did still use into writing efficient and beautiful code, or working out new ways to explain concepts to students. I forgot the joy and freedom of creating.
A couple of nights ago I made this rose:
The whole thing is made from seed beads and wire. I really enjoyed making it, and it helped me to see how much I had been neglecting my creative side.
For the next 5 weeks, I am giving myself full permission to be creative. I am giving myself permission to make bead flowers and jewellery, to bake, to write, to do cross stitch, to play my violin, to take photos, to draw, to be me and to enjoy it!
What parts of your personality have you pushed to the side to concentrate on work or study? Perhaps it’s time to set them free and enjoy being who you are.
Hi Michal, I didn’t know you had a blog! Congrats on rediscovering your creativity and pushing yourself to dive back into it. I feel like in my position as an art student, I can begrudge creativity because it’s continuously demanded and can get quite exhausting and feel forced. So my challenge is to rediscover why I love it! (And exercise the other part of my brain that helps me feel balanced.) Best of luck in this endeavor.
Thanks Lael. I haven’t had it for very long. Nice to have my first comments now
I’m really looking forward to you guys coming over here soon!
It’s been great being able to just relax and work on things I want to, without set deadlines and mark allocations to worry about. I think I will have to make sure I put aside time each week to do so to keep me sane during the second semester. Finding balance is a continual struggle.