Creativity of a Very Random Nature

We recently had the inside of the house painted.  The rooms look so fresh, warm and inviting.  Most of my efforts have been in the direction of restoring order.  My friend Jayne says that in Feng Shui, you are to move about 27 objects a year.  Well Jayne, I see your 27 and raise you 27 more!  Nothing appears to be going back to its original location.  Of course, then somebody wants new pillows, rugs or something!  Somebody has been trying very, very hard not to purchase more "stuff".  My creativity has leaked all over the house and I am tripping over it. 

In January, my precious granddaughter had a beauty shop type birthday party at our house.  Nonnee (that would be me) made the colorful headbands for each beauty to take home.  The pattern can be found here and these are super simple to make. (I sewed the flower through the button and directly around the headband)  I made a few for myself, using felt I already had and scrounging through my vintage and not so vintage buttons.  The last week or so before a trip to the hair salon requires some creativity or the proper use of a hat, clips or headbands.  My goal has been to be creative each day.  I have been doodling, sketching and knitting. Some days getting a meal on the table has been all the effort I could put forth.  My camera and I apparently need some time away from each other these cold, windy days.  I am sure a reconciliation will occur as soon as the weather stays sunny for more than an hour.  I am curious, are you more or less creative in the winter months?

Just a little reminder, Random Acts of Kindness week starts on February 14 ( a good day, eh?)  I hear there are little "fairies of good will and cheer" out and about.  I have been the recipient of these fabulous notecards by Diane English.  I love her quirky sense of humor and fabulous art.  AND I have already given Stickboy one of the cards which has made him all red in the face and gushy!  Love is in the air.

If you have any fabulous, creative ideas...let me know what you are up to...Peace and Love ya'll!

Patchwork Life

"We do not live an equal life, but one of contrasts and patchwork; now a little joy, then a sorrow, now a sin, then a generous or brave action” Ralph Waldo Emerson

I adore patchwork quilts. The idea of taking bits of fabric to create something useful and lovely. Most of our collection of quilts returned to my children's father after the demise of our marriage. His grandmother, mother and aunts were the creators. Grandma Ola's quilts were carefully inspected...as she became older and began forgetting things...you were just as likely to be stabbed by a very long quilting needle. She would make several "generic" quilts to be given to the new mothers. During her time...boy and girl children were not determined until birth. Each star on the purple quilt represents a family member and a story significant to my youngest daughter. Her Dad's old work shirt, my Father's ties, Grandma's gown...the blue Appalachian Trail bandanna belonging to my brother...he hiked the entire trail from Georgia to Maine not once but twice in his short lifetime. So many memories. The dear, sweet grandmother of my children recently made a quilt for me consisting of large squares in myriad colors. Being a mother of six children she was always frugal and used everything. In her mid seventies she is still serving others...being an example of all that is lovely and good in this world.

Life reminds me of a huge patchwork in progress with the Master tailor choosing the fabrics and "sewing" them together for our greater good! Each person, place and event forming the pattern of our lives. Every joy, trial and temptation teaches something if we watch and listen.

Judgement, drama and pettiness have no place in a life that is striving for authenticity, goodness and all that is praiseworthy. This is perhaps one of the greatest tests of all...accepting differences...do I have the right to "judge" the elderly woman in gold lame' pants...the panhandler on the curb...the emo or goth kids hanging out at the mall? These people, their lives are just one more square on our patchwork quilt. Imagine a quilt with just one color and all the stitches being exactly the same...Can you live in a world void of colorful characters and places?

Exercises in Creativity

"List five people you wish you had met who are dead." The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
Just FIVE??????? I have been working on some of the exercises in The Artist's Way in effort to jump start my flagging creativity. Life just gets in the way of creativity and the more practical aspects just seem to take over hours, days and weeks. So back to the task at hand...being an extremely inquisitive and/or nosy person there are so many people I would love to talk to about their lives and contributions to the world! Since I cheat I listed groups of people, in no particular order here goes!



"The universe rings true wherever you fairly trust it" C.S. Lewis - I would love to talk to C.S. Lewis about his conversion to Christianity. I adore "The Chronicles of Narnia" and would love to pick his brain about the characters. C.S. Lewis was quite prolific writing non-fiction, science fiction and fantasy! He hung out with J.R.R. Tolkien and some lessor known writers in a group called the Inklings at a pub. How cool would it be to sit and chat with the Oxford professors about writing!

Jesus Christ, Dr. Martin Luther King, Ghandi - I would love to talk with each of them and discuss how they kept such great faith in humankind despite the cruelty, evil and oppression each of them experienced. What do each one of them see happening in our World in the next decade or generation. I could ask each one a million questions yet would rather just listen as each expressed themselves.

Anne Morrow Lindberg, Eleanor Roosevelt, Alice Paul, Queen Elizabeth I - I would like to talk to these women about being catalysts for change, being powerful women and to thank each for what this means to women in this day. Each suffered tragedies but left amazing legacies for us.

"As for accomplishments, I just did what I had to do as things came along."

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
Eleanor Roosevelt

Paul Klee, Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Frida Kahlo - I love surrealism! Can you imagine sitting at a table with anyone of these artists and discussing their inspiration, their bad days, what stifles their creativity and what enhances it! I also wouldn't mind speaking with Gustav Klimt, Renoir or Jackson Pollock. I realize I am mixing periods and styles, however I just love art in all of its forms!!! I would ask Jackson Pollock what the heck was he thinking - what is going on with that and did he have a clue his paintings would be valued so highly?

And because I cheat...my last group is actually people I have met and know I will meet again in the eternities...

Dad, miss him and his calm, rational, loving manner in addition to his visions of the future that were frequently dead on correct!

James, "Jimmy" - my adventurous brother, I would love to talk to him and hike with him, he had a great sense of direction so I wouldn't get lost in the woods (see previous post on getting lost)

Dot, Dot, Dorothy - best friend ever! I miss her so much and am still mad that she is gone from my immediate presence. I still pick up the phone to call her about stuff.

Oma - my maternal grandmother, she taught me about unconditional love, I spent summers with her when living in Germany. I never got to see her again as an adult...with school, marriage etc...she passed before I had a chance to grow up and talk to her as an adult...to thank her for wonderful outings and the homemade noodles we made and ate and so many other things including the quick smack on the bottom if the occasion merited!

Who would you spend time with if you could spend time with ANYONE you desired? (not living here and now)

P.S. I would love to chat with Dorothy Parker - she was one sassy lady!