Carol's Corner

Sometimes ideas race through my mind, begging to escape, to be used in creative endeavors. I long to shut myself off from the rest of life and pursue them before they vanish. Yet many times the practical obligations or fun memory making moments do not allow time to devote to creative pursuits. Then I jot down an idea, a phrase, a thought or anything that might help me keep the creativity alive for another time or day. Too often I jotted them on a piece of paper I could not find when I wanted to and began, this year, to keep the in a notebook. I might have to thumb through each page but will find what I am looking for eventually. Sometimes, along the way, other ideas pop out at me, leading me on a journey of creativity.

There are times the chaos of life crashes the creativity. Ideas hide in the dark recesses of my memory, unwilling to make an appearance. The blank computer screen taunts me when I attempt to write a blog post, short story or even some family history. I need to leave the creative expression and work on the practical, necessary life events requiring my attention, hoping to calm the chaos and allow creativity to reappear.

There are times in my life I do nothing with the ideas except write them down. I procrastinate. I hesitate. I allow fear to captivate me instead of creativity. My husband, Brian, commented one day, “You start a project and then put it on the shelf instead of completing it or doing anything else with it. You need to take things off the shelf and finish them. You need to quit putting them on the shelf in the first place.”

My first reaction to his words did not include agreement. I thought about it for a few days and finally realized he had a valid point. I looked at my to do list of creative projects. Some had been started and shelved. Others never made it past a single idea to work on later. A few had made it to completion with positive results.

I asked myself some hard questions. How long had I shelved projects? The answer turned out to be most of my adult life. On occasion it happened because of unforeseen circumstances, things beyond my control. But too often it happened due to a lack of confidence and a great deal of procrastination.

This year I have begun honestly assessing the ideas. Which ones might be worth taking back off the shelf and pursuing. I have to get second opinions from trusted friends because I do not trust my own judgement about the merit of a project. Other times, as I read the ideas or look at partially finished work, sparks of creativity tumble out and I know the direction I need to go.

Is it easy to revisit long shelved creative projects? Not always. Does life still intrude on those times I long to simply shut myself away and be creative? Absolutely and yet I need to learn patience rather than procrastination. It’s past due to revisit the shelf, unearth the thoughts of an earlier time and allow myself time to explore where creativity may lead.

How about you? Do you struggle with shelving projects for later or do you show your talents? How do you organize your time to find the balance between creativity and mundane life chores? How do you fit time for memory moments which may lead to further ideas bouncing around your mind, eager to escape?