Creatin' Ain't Easy

Here's another dirty little secret of mine:

I don't like to try new things.

My sisters Thing One and Li'l Odie have this same problem. We've discussed this at some length and have come to the determination that if we want to learn some new task, we don't want to actually go through the learning process. We want to be GOOD at it as soon as we try our hand at it. We don't like to fail; we don't like the practice runs and the messy screw-ups. We're scared of the crap that will get produced in the learning period.

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On a side note, about 6 weeks ago I went to my first cropping meet-up. The hostess was lovely and gracious and all things awesome, and when she showed us her scrapping space, she apologized for the mess, but added, "But you know...creativity isn't clean."

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Then, right after Himself and I got back from the weddingmoon, I cleaned the kitchen. And then proceeded to cook in the kitchen. As I was cooking, I was talking on the phone with Thing One (talking on the phone when making dinner? this might be why my cooking sucks. Note to self: investigate this hypothesis) and quietly bitching about how the kitchen was getting dirty all over again. Thing One, an experienced and talented cook, simply said in the half-amused, half-exasperated tone she has perfected after 30 years of dealing with her neurotic baby sister, "Well, Sassy, if you use the kitchen...it's going to get dirty."

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Now, to tie those two little stories back into my silly little revelation...I like to create. I am getting a total charge from all these ideas percolating in my little Gemini brain. I haven't got a bloody clue what I'm doing, but I like to create, dammit. And creating means learning, trying, failing, making messes (often the latter two are one and the same)...I'm not going to sustain this creative bliss if I'm not willing to get past the fear of sucking. Maybe I'll always suck at whatever I try my hand at...but at least I'll have a creative high while I'm sucking!

I guess one has to be bad at something, or at least unskilled, before one can get good at something, especially if there is not an innate talent or originality in the creator. But I am willing to make messes, I am willing to try, I am willing to fail, and even fail publicly: I am willing to blog about this process.

Here's one of the projects I've tried my hand at; it's my first piece of jewelry.
















It's just a dinky pair of earrings, but I will give them to my friend Gail with the little Mexican flower twisted around them. It just may be a thank-you for her taking care of a friend (NOT me, oh no, why would you think that? *cough cough*) who may have had too much to drink last night.

Anyway. Moving along. I think I've had all the creativity I can take for one evening. Happy Sunday!