Like many I have more than one creative outlet. Quilting is my passion, and I like to bake. There is something about the process of baking that helps clear my head, and get ready for the next thing. I get into baking with an ability to make a wide variety of items over the course of a day when I’m in that groove. There is something about taking time, with a variety of ingredients, and techniques to make a consumable, edible, joy-giving that gives life. In a similar way to taking my first machine quilting class reading and working from a cook book dedicated to cake making and baking changed the way I bake. Making the changes in measuring, mixing times, baking times brought changes in the end product. As I read recipes, I began to understand how to swap out dry ingredients, when to increase or decrease the leavening used, and this is where a shift started. Baking changed from being a straightforward “mix the ingredients” to achieve an end product to a creative endeavor.
The desire to be creative, led to the pursuit of learning what works and why it works, to continue opening the door to creativity. Creativity, participating in a creative process is a lot like work. Working in the pursuit of being creative has distinctly unpleasant moments, however overall these moments lead to the ones the deeply, freely creative moments. The one where the negative, demeaning voices in my head are quiet. Where at the end of it, there is an experience of rest, though the time spent working may be long.
As this bounced off the walls of my head I started thinking about the creation stories. God, worked for six days, and rested. God’s creative process took time. Oh yes. I know God spoke these things into existence. But it didn’t happen all in one day. God ordained time for us, for our use. And on the seventh day God rested. This rest is as much of the creative process as the other six days of hard work.
The urge to create is right there. The urge to do some work to be able to create is right there. Both need some time and attention. In the next day or two there will be some shifting in the studio so that my work space flows a little better. When I arranged things the way I have them now my sweetie said, “don’t you think this might work better? I needed time to think about how that might work. I’m going to give it a shot. Over the last few days I can see that in my head. Which means I can see it, if I can see it, I can make it happen. If I can make it happen it’ll be good. Very good.
When creativity seems to be playing hide and seek, take a few moments to think, pray, reconnect with God.
God bless,
Teri
A Quilter's Heart 