One of my personal mottos is “always be making something.” As a creative person whose main work is largely cerebral (e.g. writing), making something with my hands helps get me out of my head for a bit, and the satisfaction of producing something tangible is immeasurable, whether the object has a function or not.
I’m something of a dilettante when it comes to handicrafts. Though my mainstay is crochet, I have tried almost everything at least once (except quilting, mainly because I’m afraid to let my craft hoarding instincts loose in the fabric department). I love the challenge of learning something new, which is why the Hundred Day Stitch Book below caught my eye — I have been thinking about trying some needlework projects in the near future, and this one crosses paths with bookbinding, another craft I have dipped into on multiple occasions. I am intrigued by the possibility of a book that is a visual journey instead of a mental one, a tale composed softly, stitch by stitch instead of word by word.
But what I really love about the project is the “why” — “This book is for you. It’s for your imagination. It’s a place to try things. Showing up is powerful. show up, try stuff, make mistakes, try again, get somewhere new.” If you don’t give yourself the opportunity to try different things, your creativity can become limited and short-sighted. You might become very good at one thing, but the longer you do only that one thing, the harder it is to do something new. Ideas have to cross-pollinate in order to produce truly innovative work.
I am already overbooked on projects, so I can’t participate in this challenge right now, but I hope to come back to it later this year. I’d love to know if you’re going to try this one out, though, or if you’re involved in any other ongoing creative projects. Please leave me a note in the comments!
Show Up, Make Mistakes, Try Again
“This practice is an idea factory. It gets you moving and keeps you moving. It’s an opportunity to listen to yourself and maybe get glimpses into your singular and powerful imagination that you would not otherwise get.
Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. — Pablo Picasso
“The daily part of daily practice is hard, days inevitably get weird, I know. But 15 minutes a day is in your wheelhouse and the effect of that consistency is miraculous. Committing to a do-able assignment and applying small consistent effort is as close to a magic formula as there is for growing creatively and getting unstuck.
“This book is for you. It’s for your imagination. It’s a place to try things. Showing up is powerful. show up, try stuff, make mistakes, try again, get somewhere new.”
Blessed Unrest
Agnes deMille writing about Martha Graham:
The greatest thing she ever said to me was in 1943 after the opening of Oklahoma!, when I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha. I remember the conversation well. It was in a Schrafft's restaurant over a soda. I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly, "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. As for you, Agnes, you have a peculiar and unusual gift, and you have so far used about one-third of vour talent."
"But," I said, "when I see my work I take for granted what other people value in it. I see only its ineptitude, inorganic faws, and crudi-ties. I am not pleased or satisfied."
"No artist is pleased."
"But then there is no satisfaction?"
"No satisfaction whatever at any time," she cried out passionately.
"There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."
(Source unknown)
Manufacturing Nature
“They look almost manufactured. Many tortoise beetles have transparent cuticles, the tough but flexible outer covering which gives the insect family its name protects the delicate creature within. The living tissue is often metallic in color and can in some species even change color. The combination is as diverse as it is extraordinary – many look like tiny robots assembled to infiltrate, the ultimate bug. Take a look in at the amazing variations of tortoise beetle our world holds.”