A year on

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been quite a prolific crafter lately. There’s a reason for that. I decided back in June (when, not incoincidentally, the number of my blog posts started to increase) that I was going to take a year to explore all kinds of different creative endeavors. I would work on whatever captured my fancy, and I’d allow myself to quit projects I didn’t like – or work on the same project over and over again (for example, my bags and my bird mobiles).

I’m calling this year my “year on.” In contrast to a year off, where I’d be free from work, my year on calls for me to integrate creativity into my everyday life, and that means working my regular job, walking Jake, making dinner, seeing friends, occasionally dating (though I’m on a dating hiatus right now; that’s a topic for another post, perhaps). My real, everyday life had been a good one - but what had been missing for a long time was a sense of play. I wanted to have fun – real, authentic fun. I wanted to figure out what would bring me great pleasure and make time to do those things.

So here I am. Three months into my year on, I’ve taken up sewing again, worked on book ideas with friends, helped other friends brainstorm products for their businesses, started writing for fun, cooked a tremendous amount of food with great care, and taken time to be aware of what surrounds me. I do something creatively fulfilling and challenging each day and yet I do not struggle with my projects because it doesn’t matter to me whether what I create turns out perfectly. Being creative for me is as much about the process as about the outcome.

It looks like this year on is going to turn into a lifetime of exploration. And if that’s true, then I think I’ll be a pretty happy girl at the end of it all.