The Craft of Creating.

There’s something about being creative that silences the world around me and brings me inner peace. I think it’s because being creative forces me to shut out all of the outside noise and just listen to my inner thoughts and ideas. I finally get to listen to ME. Our days are filled with so many “other” voices: bosses, friends, family, kids, media etc… When I finally get the chance to sit down with myself and create something, it's like hitting the road for the first day of vacation. There’s an open road in front of me, no responsibilities or obligations, just time and opportunities that seem endless. I’m finally in the driver's seat determining directions, and with every decision comes a new adventure, new scenery and new destinations. It doesn’t really matter what I’m creating, as long as I’m the one designing, fashioning, making or devising…it’s then the world is silent and my soul gets the hush it needs.

I can be designing or building sets for a kids production or making a script for a play. As long as I’m in my thoughts: dreaming, thinking and playing with ideas all is well with my soul.

There could be thousands of people around me as I paint and design faces for kids of all ages at a community event, and the world still seems quiet for hours as I paint.

In the hustle and bustle of Christmas, decorating and designing trees can stop time and allow space for me to breathe in the season. In fact, this year after Christmas I decided to leave the tree up and design it differently each month. With the extra Covid noise, I felt I needed to give myself a reason to stop and create something new each month to breathe peace into the chaos.

During Easter, you can find me at the kids table designing Easter eggs, and if you’ve ever colored eggs with children you know this is not a peaceful atmosphere. It’s a mess; yet somehow my equilibrium is brought into balance.

Creating costumes for my kids for dress up days at school or Halloween is something I look forward to. It inspires me to think outside the box, and enlivens the dull for days. For at least a week I get to plan, research, create, build, paint, play, tape, glue and watch my ideas become a reality.

In the day to day, I might create a “photo wall” in my living room, rearrange the furniture, or restyle the bedroom. However, big or small the project may be doesn’t really matter. Creating just gives me an escape from the box and allows me to catch a breath of fresh air.

At night I write, I create stories, poems, inspirational devotions or just journal ideas and thoughts that come to me.

Other random moments I draw, reconstructing my ideas into pictures, sketches or paintings that take a mental thought and make it a tangible picture I can see on this side of reality.

And when my sons push me, I help them create YouTube trailer videos for their “channels”.

It would be hard for me to pick just one hobby, outlet or craft that keeps me grounded because it’s really just the craft of creating that makes me new. Having a thought and watching it become a masterpiece (my masterpiece) is what invigorates me. It’s one of the most energizing things I do.