creativity

Ready for Something New

clothedwithjoy 6 Comments

Out In

For the first time in almost fourteen (14!) years I have seven (7!) hours a day with no children at home.

I knew once September rolled along things would be different. I knew/know something new was/is awaiting me. I’m not sure yet what it is but I have that feeling that doors are about to fly open.

And I’m ready.

With my new found thirty-five hours a week I’ve decided I need to have some sort of daily schedule to keep myself productive and to also carve out some time for creative activities. Doing what I love – just because I love it. I wrote about it earlier in the week here.

Friday is all about Creating. Laundry can wait. Cleaning the kitchen can wait. Office work can wait. Shopping can wait. Today, I create.

And I’m ready.

Today I will write. I will pull out and “dust off” a novel I wrote ten years ago. I will format it so it is neat and pretty. I will read it (for the first time in 8 years) and I will send it to a friend for her to read.

I am ready.

Ready for something new.

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Five-Minute-Friday-4This post was written for Five Minute Friday, Link up here

The Room: Creativity, Cobwebs & Crawlspaces

clothedwithjoy 6 Comments

“Is she exercising or something?” 

Ah, the lovely view of parks in NJ.

Ah, the lovely views from parks in NJ.

I hear my daughter say as I walk one more time around the little league fields at the park.

While I walk I’m thinking about making bacon and eggs for dinner when we get home…

…Finally giving the bathroom a much needed deep cleaning…

…What we plan to wear tomorrow.

I pray for loved ones who are on my mind.

By the time my kids consent to leaving the playground so we can head on home for dinner, I’ve walked around the public fields five times.

The only room available in my mind for creativity is a crawl space off the attic. I must pass several rooms on three floors full of urgent things that need to be done before I reach that room, if you can call it that, it’s barely a room, the room where inspiration takes form.

On Saturday I wrote about Quiet and the hope of finding a couple days to get away to take a gaze inside my head.

What is hiding in that crawlspace?

It’s happening. Two weeks from today I will awake in a lovely restored 18th century stone house – alone.

No meals to make.

No dishes to wash.

No snacks to distribute.

No pickups and drop-offs.

No helping with homework.

No letters to type or phones to answer.

No laundry to fold or messes to clean up.

For 48 hours every other room in the home in my head will be empty ( I hope) and the path to the mental crawl space will be clear of distractions. I’ve never been so excited to go exploring.

I hope there is something other than cobwebs inside.

Have you done this? Have you gotten away to think and dream and explore what might be hidden away inside your mind, whispering and ready to come out? Was it fruitful?

Joy Inducing

clothedwithjoy 6 Comments

The word is: Paint

I invested a lot of my High School years into art. I loved (still love) art. Yet, after four years I came to the sad conclusion that the internal creativeness that I believe is required for an artist to produce art was not present inside of me. I could imitate art but that wasn’t enough for me to consider pursuing it.

Twenty years later I discovered the key to unlocking the creativity in my heart. Repurposing.  I love to repurpose objects from the past and make them useful again for a new generation.

I’m a very practical person. I feel the most creative when my art can be used in some way. It’s why I love to bake and cook. Crochet. And especially create repurposed items to wear or for the home.

Recently I’ve been painting with my words. In the same way as the art I create with my hands, I want my words to be useful. To have purpose. I want the picture that I paint with my words to produce something in the reader. I want them to induce JOY.

Health

Healing

Laughter

Hope

Companionship

joy 2

I paint with my words.

 

5minutefriday

This post was written for 5 minute friday – click for link.

Defining: WRITER

clothedwithjoy 13 Comments

 

writer

The Word is: Writer

Would I introduce myself to others as a “Writer?”

I think about this a lot. I am self employed and I wear so many hats that it would be easy to throw that description in there as well. However, I would never refer to myself as a “Writer,” rather, I would say, I write for a couple blogs.

If I were creating my resume, I would feel comfortable putting the word “Writer” on there to describe myself and my abilities because it is true and I have the work to back it. Also, plenty of people consider themselves “Writers” because they’ve written novels and books and articles – it doesn’t even matter if they are published. I am fine with that, if someone considers themselves a writer – who am I to question it?

However – for myself – I would not feel comfortable calling myself a “writer” unless I got paid for it.

The first time I receive an amount of money for something I’ve written I will proudly and with great joy stand up and say: I am a Writer.

What do you think constitutes a Writer?

5minutefriday

 

A to Z Challenge: Defining Writer  (pushing it – I know. 😉 )

 

This post was written for 5 minute friday – click for link.

Clothed with JOY

clothedwithjoy 3 Comments

5minutefriday

The Word is: Joy

The word is Joy and silly me – I got stumped. Uhhhhhh. My blog is called Clothed with Joy, so let’s write about that.

For months, nay years, certain friends regularly encouraged me to write. I didn’t take it seriously until a couple months ago when I was reading in Psalms (as I do every morning – that’s a whole ‘nother post) and I read in Psalm 30 – “You have clothed me with joy.” And that was it. I hadn’t been looking for a blog name – but there it was – right in front of me and I knew that it was meant to be the name of my blog.

And that started it all.

I found a door I hadn’t been looking for. Had I forced open that door before it was the right time, I would have been terrified (and fallen flat on my face). But with the Name came the Key – and the peace – AND the JOY!

What a blessing this blog has been in my life. What a joy to write. What an adventure to imagine where it will take me.

God is good and His timing is perfect (best even.) 🙂

clothed

This was written for Five Minute Fridays where you write on a specific word for only 5 minutes, click for link.