You Are Creative!

I meet so many sewers who are sooo creative. They consider themselves artists and some of the beautiful ways they express themselves is through sewing, machine embroidery, quilting and other pursuits using needle and thread. But I meet way more sewers that tell me, “I’m just not creative” or “I could never be an artist”. I believe exactly the opposite. I want to tell everyone, “You Are Creative!” I think everyone has a creative streak in them, but they choose to ignore it for a wide variety of reasons such as fear, uncertainty, and discomfort, among other things. I strongly believe you can cultivate creativity by being thoughtful and intentional toward it. One of my favorite quotes is from Maya Angelo: You can’t use up creativity. The more you use it, the more you have.

Choose to Be Creative

There are so many ways to be creative – gardening, cooking, organizing, sewing, singing, writing, drawing, painting – the list is endless. I recently bought a book about creativity that I am really enjoying. I think anyone who is creative or wants to be creative can take something from this book. Even if you don’t think you are creative, never wanted to create, don’t know how to begin, or think you can’t be creative, the book is a great way to learn about creativity and in the process, learn a lot about yourself. The book is “You Are Creative! Turn Your Ideas Into Reality In 15 Minutes A Day.”

A Year of Creativity

This book has very few references to sewing or other activities that most people consider to be creative endeavors. It has no projects to make and no instructions for creating something. You won’t find step-by-step directions to learn a new craft. What it does have is a 15-minute exercise in exploring creativity for each day of the year. You can start anytime and if you do one exercise a day, you will complete 365 exercises. Each week focuses on a different aspect of life and creativity. Every day there’s a new exercise, activity, or prompt to promote creative exploration and growth.

The author of this fun and useful book, Ghylenn Descamps, is a graphic designer, photographer, and illustrator. She has written more than 30 books on creative pursuits and she is also the creative director for the magazine Marie Claire Idées. Visit her at ghylenndescamps.com. I have just started the book and have completed a few exercises. I’m finding it is making me think and showing me new ways to see creativity and myself. Some of the weekly subjects are defining creativity, looking at the creative process, having the courage to be creative, feeling free with your creativity, having fun creatively, creative cycles, creative energy, letting creativity transform you, being authentic, staying motivated, and learning to play. That’s just the tip of the iceberg and I can’t wait to see what else is in this book. If you’re interested, click here to take a closer look and remember, You Are Creative!

If you haven’t already, check out my new course about presser feet. Click here, Courses & Classes, or at the top of this page for more information.