We’re less than one week away from Turkey Day and carving time. I’m always thankful that when we were a young married couple, a friend and neighbor in Centerville, Ohio taught my husband how to carve a turkey. Actually, my spouse already knew how to do it, but our friend showed him a different way to carve the breast such that it was both efficient and attractive. Each year we think about those neighbors and the good times with them.
As I prepare for family visits and Thanksgiving today, I’m discovering that meat is not the sole entity I’ve been carving lately. I’ve been carving out time to be creative. This is a “must do” on my agenda each day; but how can I be sure it happens? I’m reminded of another acquaintance, this time from Garland, Texas, who told me that she liked to sew, but couldn’t do it until everything else was completed at her house. She said that she just never got done with everything. Well - - da - - who does? Isn’t there always one more floor to sweep or bill to pay or cow to check? (I guess you might not have a cow to check.) The point is that we can’t just wait for creative time to miraculously arise from our schedule. We have to MAKE it.
This has been a very nice busy season for my little jewelry design business. The boutiques have kept me busy and I’ve added vending at just a few shows. Today is the first day since the beginning of October that I haven’t had a list of orders to complete. I think I’ve finished and delivered them all. So, does that mean that I can finally be creative? No! I haven’t been waiting for this day, but have carved out time to be creative every day. I don’t mean that I have been creative by finishing the orders. The bulk of these have been specified or replicas of other designs. Yet, I have done my best during this busy season to leave at least some time each evening to just be creative with no succinct notion of what should emerge from the design work and no time table for completion.
I believe that creativity is like anything else and it must be practiced. Many factors such as the stress of this season and/or emotional circumstances can easily rob a person of the ability to think creatively. Yet, the more you have practiced and gathered expertise at being creative, the less you lose during stressful periods. For example, we know that elementary school children regress on their reading skills during the summer break unless they diligently continue the reading of challenging books at home. I also believe that the better the child is at reading, the less he or she loses (Meador’s theory). I found this to be true when teaching piano. A first year student lost more music reading ability during a break than a third year student (assuming they were any good a reading by that time).
If you concur with this analysis, what can you do about it? Let’s start carving! As I have mentioned in another posting, I really rely on my computer calendar. I’m diligent about typing in all my bill payment dates, appointments and things for which I must prepare. When that list pops up each morning, I’m right on track and when the list is complete, I’m done. But, aren’t there other things that I should be doing? Of course there are, but those are probably on tomorrow’s calendar and I sure wouldn’t want to mess up the system by getting ahead (ha).
When the list is complete, everyone has been fed and the daily household chores are finished, I have time to be creative. Granted, this isn’t usually until after dinner, but at least I can look forward to that frame of space. I’ve kept to this schedule for a long time and thankfully my spouse has grown used to what occurs in the evenings when my tasks are complete. It’s my time! I guess that I could take a lesson from my dog who comes in to enjoy a rawhide bone each evening. When he’s beside or chewing on that bone, you’d better not try to pet him. He might just bite you. If anyone should try to take away the time I’ve carved out to be creative, I might just do the same!
Happy Carving! Remember – you’re worth it.