Friday, November 23, 2012

The problem with being creative...



...is that I want to try and do and make so many things!

I have loved to create as far back as I can remember.

When I was four I wanted to be an artist when I grew up.

I loved cutting and pasting and finger-painting in kindergarten.

In the first grade my friend Nick and I made a whole family out of clay, along with many household accessories like chairs, tables, baby bottles, pillows, even a pacifier. Mrs. Tarr was so impressed she had Nick and I march our little selves, along with our clay family, right down to the office to share with Mr. Palmer, our principal.

In the second grade if we finished our times tables test first we got to choose which activity we wanted to do next. I chose Art...every.single.time.

In the third grade I wrote and illustrated a book. It was titled Kathy (?) and it was about a girl who wanted a baby brother or sister and ended up getting both because, wouldn't you know it, mom had twins! My mom still laughs about it (and even still has it)...but hey, I was 8!

Over the years I have continued to be creative, always dabbling in something...sewing, painting, collage, assemblage, print-making,  photography. But dabbling can be problematic. To dabble in many things means to not master any one thing.

I have been wanting to do something creative for...months. Photography only satisfies my creative side so much. I want to make things. Tangible things. But there are so many things I want to do that I can never decide just what to do.

I came to this realization the other day while looking through my Pinterest creative files. I figured I could look through my Pins and decide what I wanted to make based on ideas I had seen. But the problem is that I want to do so many things that once I start looking I can't decide where to even start.

So...I don't.
And then nothing gets made.
And then I get frustrated.

I have made lists. I have made files. I have Pinned until I can't Pin anymore. I have ripped pages out of magazines. I have purchased supplies. I have printed tutorials. I have done everything but make something for some time now.


What's a girl to do?




4 comments:

Denise said...

what did you make in the past that you felt really good about? or, what do you wish for - like what is your dream as for as being creative? don't hold back...ask yourself, what would it take for you to be there.

Lisa Gallup said...

Pick one thing without over thinking it and make it. Kind of like a warm up. Once you feel it, you will keep going.

Stacy said...

New follower to your blog! I'll be following along to see how you work it out. I have the same problem...I see all the great ideas, want to try them and then don't end up doing any of them.

Knittymama said...

I get in the same rut many times and I have a to-make list a mile long. But I have managed to get busy lately, and I've found the biggest thing for me is to put my computer away for a week. I get so overwhelmed by the possibilities out there, but once I turn them all off I find that what I truly want to make comes to me and then I start to knit or sew or spin again. Good luck! I've lost my writing mojo lately and I'm trying to get that back, so I know how you feel...