Day 44 of 365 - Searching for Creativity

As I approach my senior years, it strikes me that I may wish to redefine what creativity means to me. So far in my life I have associated the term with others who have wonderful artistic talent in a variety of realms.  For example, someone who creates music, dance, art, design, films, books, handcrafts, and so on.  In my social circle I know people who are very talented artists, jewelry designers, singers and musicians.  I am in awe of what they can do.  And, I see my own talents as being very far removed from theirs.

It's not that I've never tried anything 'creative' myself.  I've dabbled in a number of classes or projects over the years.  Some of these have included:  learning macramé to make a plant hanger (it was the 70's!);  learning to crochet an afghan;  hand stitching a children's nativity set; taking a stained glass course;  making a hooked rug mat.  I would see things through to completion, for the most part, but there was never enough joy in it to inspire me to do more.

There is certainly no shortage of all kinds of classes that I could take in my senior years to develop new areas of interests.  And, maybe approaching it from that perspective is part of the problem for me.  My mindset as a student tends to focus on doing the work and achieving an outcome to signify success or completion, rather than enjoying the process for its own sake.

In recent years, there is one area where I have been more willing to experiment and enjoy the process of creating.  That is in the kitchen.  With my foray into more of a health and wellness mindset, I have accumulated a variety of cookbooks as mentioned in another post.  Each new dietary approach explored meant new ways of preparing my food.  Since that is something that needs doing every single day, I've had to become more forgiving of my mistakes and have actually come to enjoy trying new recipes.

I used to think that I had to follow all directions to the letter, or a recipe would fail.  Sometimes they have, but, there are lots of instances where I've improvised with ingredients on hand and still enjoyed the dish.  This has given me more a sense of freedom to experiment.

And, perhaps, that's more of what creativity is all about, a freedom to express oneself in a pleasing way.  Maybe it does not need to mean completion of a tangible result that others can admire or praise.

Maybe that's part of what this blogging challenge is for me.  I've committed, to myself, to write something every single day for a year.  It won't always be something that is read;  that's a nice bonus. Really, it's mainly a way for me to express myself, and in the process find out more about who I am as well as who I want to be in my senior years.  So, perhaps I am creative after all.  The topics will be all over the place, because my mind dabbles in a lot of different areas.  I hope you will bear with me as I learn on this journey.


Comments

  1. susayounNovember 18, 2018 at 8:12 AM

    It has been liberating as a retired person to learn/realize that I no longer have to achieve any particular outcome when I am interesting in learning a new skill. It was likely this way all of my life, but as a professional, it never seemed that something that others didn't admire or praise was worthwhile. Improvisation and failure--viewed from the platform of "freedom to experiment"--look pretty darn good, don't they?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JoanNovember 18, 2018 at 8:15 AM

      Yes, they do Susan! I'm grateful to be coming to this awareness, even late in life, and a little sad that it took me this long.

      Delete
    2. EC Health BudsFebruary 3, 2019 at 9:04 AM

      Joanie have you ever explored Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way? I did years ago, and it was a really interesting and enlightening process. She believes that creativity is our true nature, all of us! And she has set out in TAW to help us each remove our own blocks to our creative selves. Might be worth a look! xo -Erin

      Delete
    3. JoanFebruary 3, 2019 at 9:39 AM

      Thanks for that reminder Erin. Yes, I did read The Artist's Way several years ago. I must have borrowed it from someone, because I don't own it. In any case, it may be worth another look for this stage of my life! xo

      Delete

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