Creative Wisdom

To know what's right for me, I need a bit o' wisdom.

These last two years (almost!) have been devoted to my Creative Journey. I was using it as a sabbatical to put concentrated effort into trying out some new creative pursuits and to put more energy into my old favorites.

It's been a hit-and-miss kind of endeavor. I can say that I have some good daily routines now that allow me to have concentrated hours to devote to creativity. It's amazing how well structure and creativity work side-by-side.

I think my biggest leap has been in photography. I've been pretty good about posting a photo-a-day. At first, I beat myself up when I missed a day, or would try to "catch up." Now, I'm gentler to myself. If I miss a day, I just pick up where I left off. My skills have improved some. I've come to see how much I enjoy close-up photography, for example. Now that I've begun a photography class, I hope to learn more tricks and techniques to make even more creative photos.

I've dabbled in some other creative tasks, too. For a while, I was journaling daily before getting out of bed. That has temporarily gone by the wayside. Now I write regularly via this blog.

I still continue to stitch as it's my favorite and most relaxing creative outlet. The cool part is that now I stitch so much for charities. That allows me to do what I love and I get to do a ministry at the same time. It fits me well.

I've gained quilting skills by being a part of an "old hags" quilting group every week. I've been told there that I have a good eye for color and design. That was nice to hear, because I've had such doubts where those talents are concerned. I've also learned some of the piecing skills.

I suppose the other predominant thread of my Creative Journey has been exploring and broadening my scope of spirituality through reading and through classes. This, of course, is another lifelong love ... this exploration of the spiritual realm.

To make creative choices based on what is right for me meant that I had to lose the fear of trying new things, lose the fear of failing (recognizing that failure is just part of the learning process), and most important, learn to trust my own judgments.

This Journey reminds me a lot of college. When I went to college, I thought it was to learn things that would help me land a job. What I learned instead was that college was about learning how to learn.

In my Creative Journey, I thought I started it to try some things out to see if I could determine my life's purpose. Maybe something I learned here would help me find my post-child-raising career. But what I'm learning instead is that I need to just "go where my best prayers take me." To be open to the creative breezes and not be afraid to follow them. To trust that if I take the first step, each successive step will be revealed.

Who knew?

A bit o' wisdom gained at age 50.