Jodee Luna asked me to be a feature writer at her blog http://refrainfromtheidentical.com on creativity. This is the post I wrote for her blog. I decided to post it here as well.
Private Pilot April 17, 2010
There are days when I feel that I was born in the wrong time period. A true pioneer spirit imagines the possibilities that are attainable by using what you have in new and different ways. It doesn’t need the latest gadget or craft kit to get the desired effect.
One of my favorite TV shows growing up was Little House on the Prairie. I realize that the show glamorized what life was like back then but the adventurous nature of those settlers that ventured out into unknown territory and used what they had to create what they needed inspires me.
My husband and I are modern day pioneers. We like to take what we have and imagine what it could be. In 1992 we bought a lake property near our existing home and business. This is what it looked like when we bought it.
People thought we were crazy when we decided to dig a foundation and have a crane lift a portion of the existing home onto the new foundation and add on to it. We spent hours drawing our own plans and figuring out the cost of the project. The old part of the house that we were saving had no historical value but to us it was the work of a friend who built it. Somehow we wanted to save it in our project. The crane enabled it to happen. This is what it looks like now.
We attended an auction at a local lumberyard and bought up many supplies for our home. We decided on color schemes, window trim, exterior finishes and windows based on what we could find and use from the auction. We designed and built the entrance to our home. The carpenters that helped install it just shook their heads wondering why we didn’t just make our entrance like everyone else. We wanted something unique.
Whenever I am faced with a challenge I get creative. A couple of years ago I wanted a headboard for our bed. My husband didn’t want to buy a new bed because he loves our 1970’s vintage waterbed with the old big wide pine board frame. It originally came with a bookcase headboard that I hated and the bed was just too big for our room. By cutting off the frame of the bed that the headboard sat on I gained nearly a foot at the end of our bed to walk around. I loved more space but wanted a headboard. I combined my creativity and love of quilting for my own one of a kind headboard. I painted the quilt pattern directly on my wall.
My latest venture in creativity is writing my blog. Writing is not my forte and it takes work on my part to do it better each time I write. I love taking the photos to include with each blog. For now I take my photos with an affordable digital Nikon that was purchased for $120.00. It allows me to take some good pictures but I want to learn how to do more which will require me to purchase a camera that can do so much more.
Here are some of my favorites.
Sunday Night Blues
My pioneer spirit kicked in today thinking about the new and better camera that I would like to purchase. It was time to get creative and find a way to purchase my new camera without having to buy it on credit. I boxed up my flight simulator and software that my husband bought for me a couple of years ago during my flight training and put it on EBay. I took photos of the flight simulator, wrote up the description and listed it for sale. Five days from now I will be that much closer to my new camera.
So many people limit their creativity, thinking it can only be achieved if you have enough time and money. The key to creativity is work. Trying things in new and different ways until you achieve something you like. It’s not about whether other people like what you do but how it makes you feel.
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