It's day 14 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Today is also Valentine's Day...with the family visiting, we put a pot of chili on the stove and I made a batch of cornbread in one of our cast iron skillets.
Our youngest grandson turned 1 on Friday. We had his "Out of This World" birthday party on Saturday. It was freezing cold outside and today, we have snow. It's still coming down.
Snow is a rare thing in the Dallas/Ft Worth, Texas area. We normally get the massive ice storms...I'll take snow any day though over the ice. The kids took the little guy out to experience the snow for the first time. He wasn't sure about it...they had him all bundled up his nice, thick coat, stocking hat, gloves made out of socks. They only lasted about 5-7 minutes. My son-in-law told my husband, "I don't see how you played in the snow for hours on end back in the day". LOL - - we all laughed and he and I both said, "We just did"...
After sitting with my grandson, a bit ago while he ate, I snuck off to my crafting room to get some crafting time in for a few minutes and write up today's blog for the Challenge.
Looking around my room, thinking to myself if I wanted to craft or look at my family tree, I remembered that the current Junk Journal (JJ) that I have been working on now since Christmas was setting on the back desk. Two weeks ago, I got tired of seeing everything out in my room, so I put things away that I had been using. A tub of scrap ribbons. A tub of vintage embellishments. A tub of bling and pearls. A tub of lace and trims. A box of assorted napkins. Get the picture? These things were all over my room near my desk. I get a kick out of my husband when he comes into my space...his first comment is, 'where's the floor"?! I just laugh.
I'm almost finished with this Junk Journal. But for some weird reason, the last signature always takes me forever...for those of you who craft, do you have that trouble?
Looking through the pages I have already completed, I saw a few things I want to go back and add a thing or two here and there, but I'll do that once I finish the last signature. I also need to figure out the closure and complete the cover. My journal is thicker than I intended it to be, so another closure is going to have to be added. I have a few ideas swirling around in my thoughts.
I just finished this page...there is no rhyme or reason to it...just a painted page with what little paint I had left on the plate. Do you see a flower? An apple? I found this to be inspirational to me, so I added the word, "INSPIRE". If the recipient wanted to journal on this page, there is still room for them to do so.
I hear my grandson coming down the hall looking for Nonnie. He loves Nonnie's craft room. I don't let him in here much though because there are too many things that don't mix with small, curious hands. When he does come in here, I usually set things to the side and put him on my lap. We draw his hands...I have been doing this since he was a few days old. I have a year's worth of his little hands. (They are going to be a gift for his mommy one of these days...another project for another day). I always draw them right around the day he was born each month. A few of them, I have traced my hands too around his little hands. I think it would be neat for his mom to get in on the project, but she is never too keen on my ideas...LOL - guess that's why I'm the creative one in the family! <3
My handsome would like my attention, so I'm going to go for now...until tomorrow.
What has been your inspiration today?
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When I was able to work,
there were days I burned the candle at both ends (figuratively speaking) in order to get
everything accomplished in a day's time done.
Not only did I have a
full-time job working 8 - 10-hour days, but I was a mom of three children, a
wife, and I also had other obligations outside of the home. (i.e., boards,
Praise Team, Bible Study, and PTA just to name a few). Below are pictures of my three children and me. The bottom photo also has my mom in it and my #2 child. These were taken between 1984 and 1994.
Many nights, I'd be
washing clothes at midnight, vacuuming the house after the kids were put down
for bed, and ensuring the kitchen was cleaned up before settling down for the
night myself. The next morning, the cycle started all over again.... get up two
hours before everyone else in the house did, take a shower, get my makeup on, and fix my hair. I'd then prepare breakfasts, lunches (if needed), and then
wake up the three kids ranging in age from 10 - 2 years old.
I'd get them ready for
school, pack their lunches, make sure they had something to eat for breakfast,
and out the door, we went...there was no time for self-care. I was caring for
three little people and their needs. My needs always took a back seat to
everyone else. Can you relate? I could have used some self-care tips back in
the day, trust me! I should have learned that two-letter word NO many
years ago!
By the time I arrived at
work, I was exhausted from the hectic schedule I maintained with little sleep
most days. Now mind you, my kids are grown and have families of their own. I'm
no longer working - - but there are days I feel like I still burn the candle at
both ends with little to no sleep. I can thank my health for this today. There
is a difference today though, I've learned how to ask for help if I need it
with the housework and preparing the meals. There are even days I just don't do
anything. I can't...and I don't!
Trying to balance
personal self-care with the busy life I led seemed almost impossible to my
family, but I did it. Day in and day out...no, this wasn't and isn't healthy.
Burn out was setting in. Frustration was setting in. Days were beginning to run
into the next and I began getting sick...
I needed to balance my
busy life, but how? Back in the day, for several years, I was a single mom (the middle photo above, I was a single mom with a newborn baby and two older children) - I
didn't have the luxury of having a partner to assist with the housework, the
cooking, the financial assistance, etc. I just had to figure it out. Like I
mentioned above, self-care wasn't even in the equation other than the morning
routine of showering (and in most days, that was rushed) out of
necessity.
I had routines. These
were necessary to keep my life in check and keep me sane...but at times, even
the routines were difficult to manage. But I did it...when I think back to how
life was back in the day; I'm amazed I accomplished all the things I did. But
guess what...I did it! Sure, I could have done things differently now that I
think about them, but then - I just had to manage and manage I did.
Do you have a busy life?
If so, how do you balancing it all?
Continue reading along
to learn how to tweak a few things in your life to balance personal self-care
with your busy life.
How to Balance
Practicing Personal Self Care with a Busy Life
One of the most
difficult challenges a lot of people face with self-care is finding the time to
fit it in. When you live a busy lifestyle, it can seem almost impossible to
find extra time to look after you.
So, how can you balance
practicing self-care with a busy lifestyle? Here, you’ll discover some great
tips you can follow.
Schedule it in
A good tip you can
follow to ensure you can fit self-care into your busy routine is to schedule it
in. Think about it, you schedule in everything else, so why not self-care? When
you set a time to focus on yourself, you are much more likely to stick to it.
No matter how busy you think you are, there will always be time for self-care
somewhere in your schedule.
Establish a morning routine
If you are struggling to
find the best time of day to practice self-care, you might find it easier in
the morning. If you’re a busy parent, you might disagree here but think about
it. In the morning, you could get up just 30 minutes earlier, or 15 minutes if
you want. This can be the perfect opportunity to practice self-care.
Alternatively, if you
are a parent you could focus on self-care in the evenings when the kids have
gone to bed. It doesn’t take long to practice self-care so you should always be
able to squeeze it in somewhere.
Look at automating daily
tasks
There are all kinds of
tools and gadgets that can automate various aspects of our lives. If you are
constantly busy, you’ll find automating certain tasks can be a game-changer.
For example, you could
switch from going to the grocery store, to ordering groceries online. If you
have items you frequently purchase, these can be added to your favorites list,
making it easier to add them to your order next time. Doing your grocery
shopping online can free up a lot of free time during the week that can be used
on self-care.
Start small
You don’t have to start
by completely overhauling your lifestyle. Instead, you can start small with
self-care. Begin by taking just 10 minutes out of each day to focus on a
self-care activity. Focus on developing one positive self-care habit at a time.
Once you have mastered that, you can move on to the next task.
By starting small, it
makes it easier to fit self-care into your busy life. Many people mistakenly
think they need to begin with at least 30 minutes a day. The truth is, however,
much time you can free up for self-care is enough. Once you get started, you’ll
find it easier to start focusing more on self-care due to the benefits you
experience.
Overall, balancing
practicing self-care with a busy lifestyle isn’t easy. However, the tips above
can really help. You’ll find a lot of tips online too from busy people just
like you. Remember, self-care is essential to your health and wellbeing. So, no
matter how busy you are, you should always try and make time for self-care
daily.
Now that I have given
you the equation of how to balance personal self-care with a busy life, what is
the first thing you are going to change? Do you feel you would be able to
manage life better if you were able to implement a few changes that enhanced
balancing your self-care and busy life?
Drop me a comment and
let me know how you could achieve balancing personal self-care in your busy
life.
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Why
People Fail So Badly at Taking Care of Themselves
Even
when you know how important self-care is to your well-being, it isn’t always
easy to incorporate it into your daily routine. In fact, do you know many
people fail when it comes to taking care of themselves?
Here,
we’ll look at why people generally fail when it comes to self-care and the main
things holding them back.
It is
often perceived as selfish
One of
the main reasons people fail to take care of themselves is because they feel it
is selfish. It could be that you feel guilty when you take time to focus on
yourself. Or, you may worry about what other people think, or that you are a terrible
parent for not focusing solely on your children’s needs.
It is
a total myth that self-care is selfish. In fact, it can help you to be a better
parent, friend, spouse, and relative. The more you take care of yourself, the
easier you’ll find it to take care of others. You’ll also show your children
the importance of self-care. Teaching them to take care of their own needs is a
crucial life skill that’s going to help them to grow up to be happier adults.
It
requires effort
There
is no getting away from the fact that self-care does take some level of effort
in the beginning. When you aren’t used to making self-care a priority, you’re
going to need to make quite a few changes to your routine.
Coming
up with a self-care plan can feel like a chore, making it easy to put it off. However,
there are ways to reduce the effort. For example, focusing on one thing you want
to improve at a time can really help. Perhaps you’d like to start working out
more? Scheduling time to exercise as soon as you wake up, for example, can be a
great start. Or, if you’re looking to drink more water, focus on that goal
first.
If you
break down your self-care tasks, it makes them much easier, reducing a lot of
the effort involved.
Different
approaches work for different people
Every
one of us is different, which means we enjoy and dislike different things. When
you initially look at examples of self-care, you’ll find a lot of them relate
to things like reading a book or taking a hot bubble bath. These types of
activities aren’t for everyone so they might feel self-care really isn’t for
them.
Self-care
isn’t just bubble baths, yoga, and meditation. It is anything that relaxes and
takes care of you. So, if you find going for a run is a more effective way of
feeling good, that would be classed as a self-care task.
If you
find one self-care approach isn’t working, try something else. Self-care should
be personal to your own needs.
These
are the most common reasons people fail to take good care of themselves. It can
be difficult overcoming the initial barriers to self-care. However, once you
fully understand what and how important it is, you’ll find it much easier to
stick to a self-care routine.
How are you taking care of yourself today?
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Self-care and Change go hand in hand
although it is difficult to do in many instances. When I worked in the Mental
Health field, I facilitated support groups and many different conferences for
people living with mental health, families, and staff. Among the topics
discussed, the importance of Self-Care and Change was always talked about. Let
me pose a question to you, how do you implement Self-Care in your life? Does it
just happen or is it something you must conscientiously work on?
It takes courage to put Self-care in the forefront of our lives. It takes courage to change things that are familiar to us as well. Courage is a mindset that all of us hold within ourselves.
Did you know that Self-care is
the practice of doing things for your body, soul, and mind that promotes wellbeing
and less stress? Less stress? Promotes a wellbeing. I don't know about you, but
I have stressors every single day unless I change the situations around me. I
have learned there are good stressors and there are bad. How many of you live
with stressors in your life daily? Does the same stress promote your wellbeing?
If you said YES that you have stress, then you might need to make some changes to
promote wellbeing.
Thinking about the
things that promote my wellbeing, I came up with a list of things that promote
my Self-care. Read through the list and let me know if you can relate to any of
them. Did any of mine, hit a nerve for you?
*getting plenty of sleep.
*maintaining boundaries.
*learning and saying
"no"
*eating healthy meals.
*removing toxic people
from my life.
*be willing to change.
*removing the negativity
around me.
*affirming myself daily.
*giving myself grace.
*taking care of my health.
*taking time for me (in
other words, having ME time)
*doing things that make
me happy.
*communicate my feelings.
*don't bottle things up
inside (let those walls down)
*ask for help if needed.
*recognizing change is needed.
*be mindful daily.
*be truthful daily with
self and with others.
*have purpose.
*be forgiving and ask
for forgiveness if needed.
*don't live in the past.
*don't let the past
define who I am.
*don't hold grudges.
*love self and others.
*don't allow judgments
of others to define me.
Could you relate to any
that I have? Did you have others I didn't list? If so, what were some of
them?
To have Self-care, one
needs to recognize that change is needed. Have you ever known anyone who is set
in their ways and refuses to change no matter the cost? I have...and it isn't
fun. It's like that broken record...I want to change but I'm NOT willing to do
anything different. If that is the mindset, then how will the change be
achieved? Newsflash - things will never change. You will continue to
live in the vicious cycle of going around and around and around, wanting, and
expecting different outcomes without doing anything different. It
doesn't work like that. To change, things must be different. Plain and
Simple.
The First Step to Change
is to Recognize it is Needed.
If you’re struggling to make
healthier changes in your life, it could be that you’re not convinced a change
is needed. Many of us are also great at avoiding change. It tends to be
something we dread, rather than look forward to.
However, if you want to live your
best life, it’s imperative you recognize when a change is needed. So, how
exactly can you recognize that change is needed in your life? Below, you’ll
discover some of the common signs to look out for.
You feel lost or stuck in life.
Do you feel like you’re stuck in a
rut and you have lost your purpose? This is a sure sign that a change is needed.
Everyone has a purpose, but it isn’t always easy to identify it. Also, your
purpose can change as you get older and go through life’s experiences. So, if
you feel like your life isn’t your own anymore, it’s time to make a change.
Your mood is consistently flat.
Another sign change is needed is if
you find your mood is constantly flat. That is, you don’t really enjoy anything
anymore. You don’t have to feel depressed to make a change, simply feeling
constantly flat is another indicator your life isn’t satisfying.
Think about the things that used to
make you feel good. It could be that you once enjoyed your career. If you now
don’t like your job, it’s a sign you need to make a change to get back to
feeling that initial excitement.
You suffer with poor self-esteem.
Low self-esteem can develop for a
lot of different reasons. However, it tends to be more prevalent in those who
don’t take care of themselves. If you lack self-care, you may criticize
yourself more or feel like you aren’t worth much.
Over time, poor self-esteem can lead
you to feel like you don’t deserve good things in life. This in turn can cause
you to give up trying to be happy. If you suffer with poor self-esteem, it is a
good sign you need a change.
You have very little energy.
Having little energy throughout the
day could be a sign of poor sleep. However, it can also relate to a deeper
issue if you are constantly tired. It may mean that you have lost your passion
and interest in life. When you spend a lot of time doing things that don’t inspire
you, it can zap your energy quickly.
So, if you wake up feeling tired and
drained consistently, take it as a sign you need more self-care in your life.
When you are taking care of yourself, you’ll feel energized and ready to take
on anything.
As you can see, there are a lot of
signs that could point to the fact you need a change. Self-care can really help
to improve self-esteem, give you a sense of purpose and help to make you feel
happier and more energized. So, if you want to make a change, recognize where
your current issues lie and use self-care to eliminate them.
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I began working on this
gift back before I moved to the Austin area from Lewisville. It was going to be
your Christmas present for 2013...instead, I am sending it to you for Mother's
Day 2014.
Here on the pages of the book I created, I have shared a little bit of your life along with the memories
- both good and maybe some bad, I really don't know...only you will know.
It's day 10 in the Ultimate
Blog Challenge. Earlier today, I was able to set time aside to
begin the purging process of my lateral filing cabinet. This is something I do
at the beginning of the new year. Yes, I'm a few weeks behind...but I was able
to get it done today. Thank goodness!
My crafting room thanks me too! Between
this tub out and that tub out while I work on the current Junk Journal, it looks
like the Tasmanian Devil has whirled through here. At least now, I can see the
floor, my desktop, and the desk behind me. That's always a good feeling!
Especially for a crafter. Can any of you relate?
I knew that recycle day
was soon approaching so I wanted to get this done sooner than later. As I went
through each file folder, pulling this and pulling that, making a new folder
for this and a new one for that - I ran across a letter I had written my mom on
May 7, 2014.
I glanced at the letter
atop of many other file folders that I had already cleaned out. Many of the
folders remained the same, only lighter after today. I read through the first
page...set it aside and continued working on my folders.
Picking the letter back
up after a little bit, I began reading the next page...
I spent many, many hours
in the back while living in Lewisville, you would always question why I always
went to the back after work. Here I was working on a Christmas gift
for you but couldn't say what it was I was doing...I wanted it to be a
surprise. Mom, you never understood why I wanted to be in my own space in the
wee hours of the night, but after you see your gift, you will understand.
one of the layouts I had made for mom's gift
I hope you enjoy looking
through the different pages I have created as much as I had looking for just
the right pictures. I put some serious pictures as well as some quirky ones, I hope
you get a laugh out of them, and maybe for a moment, you can step back in time
when you were happy and at peace. I found myself chucking a time or two, too
and I'm sure you might even shed a tear, as I did.
Mom, I have always had a lot of questions without any answers and I thought one day, I might find
them...it's evident to me now, that day will never come and the one person who
holds them, is YOU.
Setting the letter to
the side once again, I finished up the filing cabinet and started cleaning off
the other desk. I have two desks in my crafting room. The one I use and then the
one that sets behind me with other things on it. Glue Books,
Journals, cardstock, paper stock, a catch-all, etc.
I stopped. I turned
around, picked up the letter again, and read it completely.
Mom, you know firsthand I am a fighter. I don't give up easily...this has been a true test for me as my first reaction was to say, to hell with it all and go about my merry way, but I can't do that. (I was battling Stage 4 Thyroid Cancer) I am resilient! I don't give up easily and if I have breath, there will be HOPE in my life to beat this thing called cancer.
Mom, I love you. I don't have the energy level in my body to deal with the family dynamics of chaos and negativity any longer. I need understanding and support for me just as much as the next person in our family. I've never been one to hold grudges and I'm not going to start now. I have so many questions without any answers but continue to choose to move forward. I have forgiven and I have moved on more times than anyone in this family and no one understands that. I'm continually being judged for things I've done many, many, many years ago by those who look me in the eyes and say, 'I love you'. I've had so many losses from people who live and breathe because they hold onto the past. They judge and they hold onto the words from others above anything I have said to set the record straight. Yet, I am always the one in the wrong...
Mom, I never understood why you said, "you felt your purpose in life was taken from you". I'm sorry you have scars in your heart and on your mind from emotional and mental pain that has been inflicted on you over and over and over. I'm sorry for the role I played in that hurt and pain. People don't deserve to be treated poorly. Mom, you ARE a wonderful human being...you have a lot of love, compassion, and a giving heart. I love you, mom...
Please accept this book as your Mother's Day present 2014 and know that I love you VERY much. I miss you. I miss seeing you. I miss your soft hands and your long-drawn-out hugs. I have those memories tucked away deep into my heart and my mind and will never lose sight of any of them.
My mom had just had emergency surgery to repair a ruptured colon. I was driving back and forth from the Austin area to DFW (Dallas/Ft Worth) to see her and check on her health care every weekend. She was in the hospital for thirty days, then in a rehab facility for another 30 days. This was in the latter part of September 2013.
In June of 2013, I
relocated to the Round Rock, Texas area for a new position in the Mental Health
Field. I had previously been working at one of the 9 State Hospitals in Texas for Behavioral Health. The new position I accepted opened up as a result of the company receiving a new grant to extend their mental health services. At the time of my relocation, my family didn't move with me as I moved first to start my job, find
a place to live, and get settled. Then they were going to join me. Within three
months of moving (by myself), I learned I had cancer. Instead of returning to
Lewisville, we decided my family would join me as soon as possible. Mom didn't
want to move to the RR area, so we moved her back to Amarillo with my sister.
This was December 2013.
Per the doctor's advice,
as sick as my mom was - they advised me 'not' to tell her about my cancer. For
me, the cancer was fast and furious...and time was of the essence. My youngest
daughter and I were traveling back and forth to MD Anderson, Houston, TX for
treatment. I refrained to tell mom what was going on with me...looking back at
that decision, I can see it was a huge mistake not telling her what was
going on with me. Mom didn't understand why she was moving back to Amarillo without
seeing me. She couldn't even talk to me during this time, I was that
sick.
Unspoken words. Spoken
words. Hearts were torn apart...things were said to my mom that I'll never
understand to this day. Words that drove walls of resentment up between the both of us.
Anguish, hurt, with no understanding. There were no words to make either one of us
understand the events of the recent months in 2013.
I was focused on my
health and getting the treatment I needed. Mom never knew anything was
wrong. We were protecting her because she was frail. She was feeble. She was
dealing with a difficult recovery in her life too from the ruptured colon. We
thought we were going to lose her a few times, but she was tough and pulled
through. It was during this time, my sister and I learned that she had lost a baby. Neither one of us knew...
My mom and I were never
close growing up. So much of my life's story, I don't understand. My mom saw me right
after I was born, then again in November '62. Then she was gone again...her
mom and stepfather raised me until they died in the 70's. Mom was gone for many years in the
beginning...then again when I was in the 4th grade. I didn't see mom after that until they removed me from class in the 7th grade. It was then when I began
hating her with a passion.
me and mom, Nov. 1962
I continued reading the letter I had written that day in 2014 with tears streaming down my face...
Mom, please accept this
book as your Mother's Day present 2014 and know that I love you VERY much. I
miss you. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about you. You ARE
and will ALWAYS be forever in my heart and forever on my mind.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Love,
*****
Continuing to sit at my
desk trying to compose my thoughts, I soon realized the words I wrote my mother
on that day in May...mean more to me today, than they did then. Mom will be
gone for 1 year on the 28th of this month.
Because of my health in the latter months of 2013 through 2014, it wasn't until early 2015 that I was able to see my mother after
relocating to the Round Rock area. My youngest daughter took me to see her in the
spring of 2015. We didn't tell my mom we were coming to Amarillo. We surprised
her and boy, was she surprised.
She told me after the
shock of seeing me standing there in her doorway, that she thought she would
never see me again. That was in 2015...here I am in 2021 and I will never see her again.
I love you mom, I miss
you...so many things left unsaid. So many questions with no answers. So much
pain left unresolved.
How many of you are
dealing with unresolved issues today? How many of you have a void in your life
because of loss over a loved one because of hurtful words spoken? Have you tried to make amends, ask for forgiveness, or even forgave the others who have hurt you? If not, how come?
I'm thankful
today that mom and I were able to put our differences aside, ask one another
for forgiveness, and had what little time we had to shower each other with love
and gratitude. I don't hold any anger or resentments towards mom for all
the 'stuff' inflicted on my life for so many years when she
was there and in her absence.
Many times, those things
were always never spoken of...they were swept under the rug and forgotten. Many
of those memories today are still very raw in my mind as I am the one who lived
through them. They molded me into the person I am today. They pushed me to be
resilient. They drove me to dig deep and fight to be the bigger person. They
also taught me humbleness, forgiveness, and gave me a sense of hope. Hope that
things would not always be as they were but would be what I turned them into
being. Those very same hurts were the catalyst of pushing me forward to grow
stronger in my faith. It was faith that got me through the tough times in life.
It IS faith that gets me through today...
I placed the letter back
in the folder and tucked it away in the filing cabinet. I smiled and looked
around my crafting room where I have tender memories of mom all over the
place.
The Angel Doll I gave
her shortly after I got married at 17 years old.
The singing bear that
sings, "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack.
The Thomas Kincaid floral
arrangement that I gave her a few years ago. She felt bad, because it got
knocked off her dresser and broke, but they glued it back together.
Her ashes set close to the flower arrangement. Tucked away out of harms way up on the shelf...
In my bedroom, is the shadow box I made with all of the handcrafted things I had made and sent to her over the years. They were all sent back to me after mom's death. She had kept these close to her heart in her room at the Nursing Home. Inside of the shadow box is the Memory Album I made myself for Mothers Day 2020. There is also a Journal I sent mom years ago. She has a few things written inside of it...
I'm thankful today that mom and I were able to move past all
the hurts, the pain that was inflicted by both of us at different times in our
lives before she passed away. I still wonder at times though, if she ever truly
knew just how much I loved her. I will never know...that makes my heart
sad.
Don't allow resentment,
anger, or pride to stand in the way of making amends with people you love. We
are not promised tomorrow. Don't wait until it's too late.
Heart to Heart Soul Creations
h2hsc2020
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Here we are on day 9 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Time is zipping by faster than fast. If you have been following my blogs, you know by now that I have two favorite pastimes genealogy and crafting. The latter of the two is what I'm going to share with you today.
Crafting
and Creativity
Before I begin though, I want to apologize for the white space around my photos. This drives me batty. Ever since Blogger did some upgrades last year, I have not for the life of me been able to figure out 'how' to remove it. I've looked on YouTube, I've googled it, and nothing I do seems to work. IF you know how to remove the white borders, please let me know. I would very much appreciate it!!!
C R E A T I V I T Y - have you ever looked up
the word? The Oxford Dictionarydefines creativity
as the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the
production of artistic work.
Are you an artistic
person? If so, what do you create? Maybe a painter, or a craftsman of a
particular medium related to art? I tend to dabble in a little bit of this and
a little bit of that. Scrapbooking, Mixed Media, Altered Art, Junk Journals,
Paper Crafting - my mind is always thinking of ways I can use things I see
laying on the ground or along the side of the road in my craft projects.
I find crafting and creativity
to be extremely therapeutic and relaxing for the most part. Sometimes though,
when I am under the gun on time (so to speak) ...I feel flustered if I don't
have the time needed to completely focus on my project. It stresses me out more
than I care to admit. I'm having to juggle hours in the day and many times, end
up staying up into the wee hours of the morning to work in the quietness of the
darkness just so I can focus and complete the task at hand. Have you ever found
yourself in a position like this while crafting? How do you handle it?
Crafting is one of the
coping tools. Many years ago, when I was going through a very dark time in my life, I learned about coping tools and the role they play in a person's life. I found crafting to be my happy place. My calm. My respite. I can
literally lose myself to all matter of time when I am crafting and in the
zone.
I do this too when I am
'walking with the ancestors'. I can't tell you how many times I have sat
down at my desk at 6:00 a.m. in the morning, only to get up for the random
bathroom breaks or to let the dog outside, only to look at the clock and see that
the day has almost come to an end! Yes, it's those days that I am truly in the
zone...I haven't had many of those days lately. These days, I'm good to get 2 or 3 hours of quality time crafting and/or genealogy on any day.
When I started out, I
was crafting your typical scrapbook layouts. I didn't have any of the fancy
scissors, scoring boards, unique themed papers, or even one sheet of Designer
paper in my possession.
What I did have were old
magazines, a pair of sewing scissors, and a bottle of Elmer's Glue, or maybe
even a glue stick. I also had plenty of letters (A-Z in assorted font size and
styles), words, and random pictures (flowers, people, landscapes, etc.) cut out
or torn by hand and sorted by letter or image in folders I made from cereal
boxes.
one of my early scrapbook pages
I have been doing this type of crafting since I was in my childhood.
Through the years, I began adding little things to my crafting accessories. A
better pair of scissors. Better wet adhesive. Even double-sided tape.
early scrapbooking
a layout my daughter created in one of my books
Over the years, I have
had my crafting area set up on a small worktable. The kitchen table, on a folding table, In two regular-sized bedrooms
and now I am in a smaller bedroom with so many wonderful things I could
probably open a small store.
from this to...
this
I have given things
away, sold things, and even donated crafting goodies to different
organizations. I have been destashing now for a while. I don't craft like I
once did, and the goodies are overwhelming today. I look around me and think to
myself I need to make this; I need to do that. I have that tub of photos that
need to be scrapbooked and so forth and so on...I'm sure you get the
picture.
Through the years, I
piddled with mixed media projects. I even have done a
few altered art projects. I incorporated both techniques into
my scrapbooking. I even started sewing on my scrapbook layouts. It's
mind-boggling where a crafter's mind goes while trying to create. Do you feel
like this when you craft? If so, how do you harness it, or do you go with the
flow of the creativity?
Would you believe me if I told you the flowers
in the last photo above were from a toilet seat cover? They were...creativity,
the options are so many.
I've had to downsize my
inventory a great deal since we relocated a couple of years ago. We moved into
a smaller house with less room. I mean...a RIDICULOUSLY small house. THIS
created a huge dilemma for me and my crafting goodness. My husband and son in
law jokingly say, "I have more stuff in my craft room than there is in the
rest of the house". That might be true, but I am destashing even still
today. Gone are the days of having two large bedrooms set up with all my
crafting goodness to feeling like I am going to be swallowed up by the crafting
abyss at times. I continue to destash here and there.
I have gotten rid of
my Cricut and all the accessories. I have sold rubber and
acrylic stamps and sets from time to time. I still have a huge amount of them
that are sitting in a tub not being used.
I have sold paper and embellishments that I no
longer want or need. I have sold lace, flowers, ribbons, and everything else in
between. At one time, I even posted to sell the entire room for a nice sum of
money. I had a few bites, but they wanted me to practically give the stuff
away. I am generous and have given many things away over the years...but I have
a small fortune wrapped up with all this goodness.
I'm creating more Junk
Journals today than before. Mixed media and altered art come into play nearly
every time I set down to bring one of my journals to life. I have fun creating
beautiful things from my heart and soul.
I have a few mixed media
canvas ideas floating around in my head that I want to tackle here in the next
few weeks. But until then...I'll continue working on Junk Journals and whatever
else comes to mind. Creativity...it never stops.
I'm still in the process of downsizing my crafty goodness. My loss will be somebody else's gain. I hope they find comfort and enjoyment out of it all like I have so many times. Don't fret though, I'm NOT getting rid of all of it...
CREATIVITY, what are you creating today?
Heart to Heart Soul Creations
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