After months and months of posting seemingly random ramblings and hodge-podge projects to help me decide which of the things I like doing I should focus on for my next ‘passion-filled career’, I realized (or I guess, I started listening to Troy) that I don’t have to choose. Everything I do defines who I am and, in the past, when I tried to build a business out of each of my interests, I was miserable because I felt incomplete. Then again, I was insecure about being branded jack-of-all-trades because as the old saying goes “One who tries to do everything is capable of doing nothing.”
I thought of Leonardo da Vinci and the concept of the “Renaissance Man” – well-educated and excels in a wide variety of fields. If I don’t want to be thought of as a jack-of-all-trades, I most certainly would embrace being a Renaissance Woman. I felt it’s time to squash my inner critic and start believing in what I can do. (It helps if you have a husband like Troy who is very encouraging and supportive.)
Everyone has an inner critic – most people call it the gremlin. Mine is monstrous. I squashed him but he’s still breathing. (Who knows when he’ll recover.) It’s time we realize that these critters in our minds are not us. When we listen to them, it manifests not only in our actions but also in our tendency to procrastinate or in our proneness for perfection. We can choose to ignore or silence them. Only then can we liberate ourselves from our fears and live a more fulfilling life.
“When we listen to our Gremlin, we become rigid and hold ourselves back restricting us from being creative, resourceful and living life to our fullest potential.” – Christie Clipper
| Con mucho amor, | |
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I think that being creative is not something you DO so much as who you ARE. Creativity comes in many forms-not just in the form of the things we usually perceive as creative, such as the traditional arts. I mean for example, look at the NASA space program when Apollo 13 was in trouble, the guys on the ground had to use incredible creativity to figure out how to bring those men home safely. (And CANADIANS were actually also key participants in that, I might add!)
Anyway, I think all human beings have a capacity for creativity and it just gets expressed in whatever way they feel strong. If you’re an achitect, it comes out in the lines of your buildings. If you’re a chef, it manifests as beautiful food. If you’re a mum, it shows in the ways you solve everyday challenges raising your family.
I don’t think there’s any shame in being good at a number of things. Da Vinci is one of my heros. He was a visionary. We are only limited by our own imagination and our courage to chase our dreams. I’ve always found it helpful to think: “If I died tomorrow, what would I regret not doing?” and go from there.
I also think that sometimes it’s okay to have something you love and are passionate about NOT become the way you make your living. Sometimes that sucks all the joy out of it and it takes wisdom to know when that’s happening and not to persue it in that manner.
Life is complicated. It’s a series of choices. The good news is 1. You are always free to choose and 2. If you don’t like a choice, then simply choose different. The days of picking a single career and being saddled with it for life are OVER. As human beings, we are evolving all the time and what we DO can evolve too.
I found your blog from your post to the Mixed Media group on Yahoo.
I’ve read this far and LOVE your writing and projects!! But now I had to comment. :) I, too, feel like my posting is hodge-podge and wonder if I should consolidate and just put art things one place, sewing another, family in another. Someone IRL told me that all these things ARE who I am.
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog with everything you do. I like you!
I have read back one more post and see you do homeschool your children. I had wondered that from the most recent post. Yeah! I homeschooled our kids too (17 yrs) and both have now graduated. It would seem I’d be getting so much sewing done now but have picked up on helping my husband more with the farming. (No, I still can’t drive a tractor but I am doing better with his bookkeeping. :) )
I’m loving your altered books — you make it look doable. I have lots of supplies and info but never landed on what to put inside. I’m going to do a childhood memories one now. I seem to be the sibling that keeps the memories so I need to get them out, I guess. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks so much for the wonderful comment Joyce. It’s very heartwarming. And how cool is that? You homeschooled too! 17 years? Wow! How many kids did you homeschool and how did you manage? How are they doing now?
And the altered book is definitely doable – I encourage you to try it. I’ll definitely be sharing more of my altered book project here in the blog.