I'm a dabbler. I have about one million different interests which I'm constantly trying to pursue simultaneously, with frequent trips to the public library and various lists of things to look up and in to.
I think many creative people are like this. I've come to find out that being an artist is really the opportunity to look into a little bit of everything---one day I'm looking up the origin of a certain word, the next day I'm making a study of cabbage. I love this aspect of a creative life.
"Art soul heart necklace" by lulubug jewelry
My most recent dabble is a foray into textile arts---a couple of weekends ago I decided to teach myself to crochet. I've had mixed results with trying to learn textile arts---I'm a draw-er, and so I love the instant gratification of putting pen to paper and often have trouble with crafts that take time to develop. But this time, I sat myself down and didn't get up until I had learned to crochet.
With this experience, I learned two things: one: I could actually learn to crochet---given adequate determination! And two: learning to crochet really flexed some muscles I hadn't used in a while---my brain hurt and my hand was sore, but I was high on the energy of having learned something completely new.
The more art I make, and the longer I'm in this game of being a maker, I realize that this is the key to sustaining a creative life: keep trying new things, whether you're in a creative career, or you're just seeking to live an adventurous life. As my experience with crocheting showed me---every new experience pushes your brain to think in new ways, and new ways of thinking is what creativity is all about. Creativity is the practice of bringing new things into being. In order to be able to do that, you have to always be seeking to see things in a new way.
This is where the dabbling spirit comes in---it seems to be a chicken and egg situation---does the dabbling spirit come from being creative, or does being creative come from dabbling? I think it's both.
Even the most creative person gets into ruts---perhaps you could even claim that it's the most outwardly successful creative people that are the most prone to ruts---the more you are recognized for your creativity, the easier it is to just keep doing what's working {financially speaking}.
But what's working now, will not sustain you creatively for the rest of your life. The creative spirit likes to fly and see new things. And to sustain it, you have to be always willing to keep following what's most exciting to you---you have to always remember to follow the wonder. With that idea, it seems that the real key to living a creative life over the long-term is to learn to dance with change. To be always open to where your creativity and dabbling takes you. To see life as one big adventurous dance of flight.
Where are you flying to today? What new things are you dabbling in?
2 comments:
Very true. I yearn quite often to branch out and explore new mediums, I really would love to illustrate, and learn to sew.
You just reminded me that I wanted to crocket this
Winter :)
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