Reprise of Just Do It!

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CREATIVITY - The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc. [Creativity Week starts here. Click for this week's Bliss Initiatives.]

Image from The Green Mom Review

A couple of Creativity weeks ago, I wrote a post called  My tip for Boosting Creativity or why the Nike slogan offers the biggest breakthrough! In it I discussed how my fear of ruining my art supplies, they look so perfect and beautiful in their unopened packages, keeps me from creating more. I really thought that I had taken some ground on this until I noticed how my heart starts to beat faster the moment my daughter breaks a crayon or decides that EVERY glittery bead in the bag is needed for one, JUST ONE (I would have doled them out for years! LOL) art project. Scarcity is still somehow hardwired in my brain.

As I told you, last weekend we cleaned out our garage. Included in the big purge was a box of stuff I have been carrying around with me since the late eighties. In this box I had the contents of what used to be housed in an antique secretary/vanity. That piece of furniture is currently in a storage unit but I've kept the box close, just in case, I wanted something. The contents of this box included a bunch of gifty items, I always like to have unique treasures that I can send to friends when I think of them, gift wrap, stationary and a variety of crafty items. This box has served as my "go to box" most often when I was putting together a surprise gift for someone. I have always wanted to be the type of person who regularly surprises her friends with "just the perfect thing!" 

Well, last weekend I finally dismantled that box. As I went through much of it I realized that the years of storage rendered much of the contents unusable. Wrapping paper and ancient envelopes were stuck to each other. Cards were frayed around the edges and small gift boxes looked as if a steam roller had gone over them. Sparkles and special confetti had fallen from their bags and were littered through out the box in useless disarray. Special gift items were broken and for the most part my hoarding of the contents resulted in their being rendered entirely unserviceable. 

So once again I am back to "JUST DO IT" no holding back, no waiting for a "perfect" occasion. My daughter is unafraid of scarcity. She is also unaware of the trap of perfection. Cards with bent corners are just has fun to create with as the pristine ones I covet. It doesn't matter if she runs out of blue when green is there to take its place. Blue trees are just as fun as green... and purple people love their  pink cats just as much as orange ones do.

Tomorrow (we are having a stay at home day!) in a bold and expressive move, I am giving Sweets access to it all. All the paint, all the paper. All the clay, all the glitter. All the feathers, all the stickers... what ever she wants to use. I pledge not to curb her enthusiasm for copious amounts of glue and tape. I am done with doling things out. We are going to let creativity out of the box I've slammed it in. 

On Thursday I'll give you an update!

Has scarcity or perfection been getting in your creative path?

Next Post  Elizabeth of Things Bright gets to the bottom of what might be holding you back!

My 13 bliss virtues are 

joy, order, creativity, passion, whimsy, serenity, inquiry, community, 

romance, gratitude, moxie, humility, and surprise.



This week we are exploring  Creativity. 

Next week is all about Passion.