Time
In terms of crafting and sewing I’ve realised that over the last couple of years the time I’ve given myself to practice and play at my craft and subsequently develop my skills and creativity has dwindled away to nothing. Some of this is to do with having too many projects on the go, some of it to do with trying to market and promote my businesses as well as create. Some of it is just not enough time. There just isn’t enough of it, or it seems to slip away when you want it and drag when you don’t.
There’s some statistic somewhere or other for how many hours it takes to become an “expert” at something, I forget how many it is but its in the thousands, possibly tens of thousands of hours. I think you can see the time people spend on their craft in the quality of it. Artists and designers who spend time delving into their creativity and nurturing it create distinctive voices and visual identities, we know instantly when we see their work. These artists inspire me, I want to be that thoroughly me creatively, I want my work to have a distinctive recognisable style.
Frustrations
Lack of crafting time hasn’t just affected my, for want of a better expression, professional creativity, it has affected my personal creativity and I’m sure my personal happiness. I never seem to sew for my daughter any more or myself, projects get started and set aside, my house is a clutter of unfinished sewing and home-making projects. A winter cape started in January, a patchwork quilt for my daughter’s birthday in August, a chair to re-upholster has sat coverless, spilling its stuffing guts over two years, and now, two houses.
I have a constant feeling of dissatisfaction at living with unfinished projects and a sense of missing out as I see my friends online creating and crafting. I also miss the joy of making and of sharing the end results, in person and online.
Time to change
At the beginning of the year I started another, yes I know I’ve too many already, blog. The aim was simple, a daily dose of creative inspiration. Nothing grand, just an sketch or photo of an idea a day. I lasted a week and then got knocked down by illness and the need to prioritise my energies.
But for that first week I posted a creative thought every day and at the end of the week I looked back and had a scrap-book of ideas, and, better still, I had done some sewing.
In the couple of weeks I’ve taken a break I realised that it works best when I took a half hour in the morning to spend on jotting notes and coming up with a post, the creative energy of which bouyed me up in the day, rather than feeling weighted down by leaving it till the end of the day. Ive been storing up ideas too so I’m now, more than ready to give it and me that little slot of time and nurturing it requires do do join me in kick starting your creativity over at my i-365 blog with an idea (nearly) every day.
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