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Writer's pictureitallstartsintheho

You Are Born To Create!



Would you describe yourself as creative? I probably wouldn't be the first person to raise my hand, but eventually, I may admit it. It doesn't come easy as it may for some, but I thoroughly enjoy it when I act on it. Some people can imagine a vision and quickly put the vision to action. My mom, for example, is a natural. She was a fashion designer in South Korea and owned a fashion boutique. When she came to the United States, she made all of our clothes without a pattern. Thankfully, I was too young to notice, but my siblings and I all had matching outfits. (That might be the reason why my older siblings weren't smiling in those photos. =)) Anyway, she still creates and recreates with her own clothes. She can take a dress she had years ago and refashion it to a beautiful hip blouse and even design a fancy skirt with it too. Or she would prepare elaborate meals with a fantastic display that would make you feel like you were dining at a five-star Michelin restaurant. After retiring from the fashion industry, she picked up painting and recreates her version of famous artwork. I'm not going to lie. I wish I had some of my mom's natural talent. It takes me a minute or two, usually longer, to come up with something unique. I used to get frustrated and give up, but thankfully I have learned to be patient with myself and learned creativity is unlimited. With the changing of seasons, I like to redecorate my home. Nothing too extravagant but simple things that freshen up the house. I don't always buy new things, but I may switch items from room to room. It can be as easy as changing pillowcases to flip the color scheme of a room. Or reversing books from the spine of the book showing to displaying the book's text block. Recently, I started to take off the dust jacket covers of books and showcase the beautiful leather or cloth binding. Additionally, if you ever visited my home a few different times, you will have noticed our rearranged furniture. My kitchen table is also another place I try to be innovative. I switch out flowers and arrange other floral designs to express the mood of our home. It doesn't always work out the first time, but eventually, it comes together, and I start to appreciate the outcome. It's not always flowers; it could be candles, rocks, or an ordinary figurine but has sentimental value. During the pandemic's initial lockdown, I encouraged my kids to stop studying and do something fun and imaginative. So my youngest son took up drawing cartoons of our family. Using plain printer paper and a sharp pencil, he created hilarious and accurate stories of our family. Even though we were stick figures, the expressions he made on our faces told the whole story. It was fun to view it from his perspective. I hope to publish them one day and put them on display on our coffee table for others to be just as amused. The same son loves Legos. Usually, he would assemble the pieces the way the instructions suggested. However, sometimes he takes those apart and creates his own images. My daughter is very similar to my mom and naturally creates without any obstacles. She had a vision of a tye-dye design, so she ordered the dye colors, and bam, she tye-dyed a few t-shirts and sweatshirts that look professionally made. And now I wear a few too. My other son took creativity to a whole new level. He thought of a way to recycle his used sports equipment to share with friends worldwide, who may never have had the chance to play with it. He and his siblings find ways to collect and donate gently used equipment that people would normally throw away. It's incredible to witness the wheels turn when given a chance. We even tried learning new dance moves together. We watched a Tik-Tok video and decided to copy it. Although it was a bit more challenging than we thought, we switched things around to make it personal for us. Yes, we (or I) looked foolish, but how fun it will be to look back at our video a few years from now.

I have a friend and her sister and mom who seek ways to support the community with their creativity. They have sewed several hundred face masks to donate to others. Recently, they crafted together face mask chain necklaces to use with the face masks. My friend's sister also volunteers as an interpreter at the local hospital. Additionally, her mom spends time in the garden and plants beautiful arrangements for my friend to enjoy. Did I mention how she also cooks for not only their family but for hundreds of others? This post is not to overwhelm you by learning what others are doing. I write this to suggest examples of the many ways one can be creative. This is not an exhaustive list, just some simple ideas:

  • If you desire to write a book, start with a couple of sentences each day, and it doesn't have to be the introduction either (which authors say is usually the hardest).

  • Maybe you would like to paint but don't know where to start? Begin with a paint by numbers kit. That's what I did (the photo in this post).

  • What if you want to learn how to cook, bake or be better at it? Start with one easy recipe at a time and amend it until you customize it to your taste.

  • You can create a vision board with magazine ads. I created one a couple of years ago and still look at it every couple of days.

  • Are you curious about a particular instrument? You can rent one and teach yourself from professionals on YouTube until you're committed, and then you can look for your own local teacher.

  • Do you exercise or have a regular workout routine? Switch it up. Create a new pattern and try out something different.

  • Try putting together different color arrangements of outfits together. Maybe ones you would never wear.

  • Grab a coloring book and start coloring away.

Did you know that using your creativity benefits your brain function, mental health, physical health, and spiritual health? Check out these articles for more information: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2018/07/25/heres-how-creativity-actually-improves-your-health/?sh=7be4ac0613a6 https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-neuroscience-of-creativity-a-q-a-with-anna-abraham/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/201802/your-brain-creativity https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/doing_something_creative_can_boost_your_well_being https://www.theresadedmon.com/blog God is creative, and He made you in His image; therefore, you're creative too. So be gentle with yourself and enjoy the process! You may be surprised at how liberating it is to express yourself in more ways than one. Go for it! Come back and comment on my blog the way you were creative this week.

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