Routines and Creativity

How many crows does it take to make a murder? A murder meeting took place in our back yard this morning. Fluffing, cawing and swooping. 

Morning light on my Bolero rose. The bush has tons of blooms on it. But it's potted and I think the foliage is suffering because of it. More food? Change the soil? Transplant it? Any ideas?

Now that classes are over and my job has ended, I'm spending time helping our daughter with little Sadie. Her husband took the first week off, but he's mostly back to work now. Yesterday afternoon, while Mama napped upstairs, I sat downstairs with Baby and stitched while she dreamed in her blanket cocoon.

I'll be going over there again around noon, but meanwhile, I'm getting a few things done around the house. 

Tim had an early meeting this morning, so my day began around 6:30 with a shower and drying my hair. Then downstairs to fix his lunch and chat while he eats. I have a hard time eating that early and so I wait until he's gone. But before I ate, I stripped the bed, started a load of laundry, and then, in a fit of virtuous enthusiasm, cleaned a bathroom and vacuumed upstairs. Then I sat down to eat, well satisfied with myself for having done a chore I dislike. The rest of the day looks much better from here. 

This is another piece of stitching that I worked on. It's from the 39 stitches project on Amy Powers blog, started in 2010. I planned on doing more than 39 squares, but like most of my other creative pursuits, this was laid aside until I completed my degree. That was last fall, but then Christmas came, and a partial move, then a complete move, and so on. It's only now that I'm getting into my stitching/sewing stuff again. And it feels good. Ideas are beginning to flow again. That's a good thing. 


The internet is full of ideas on creativity and inspiration. In the end, however, if I'm only creative in my head I'm not expressing myself. And it's scary to actually try something new. The novels I write in my head are always best sellers and the sewing projects turn out perfectly. Alas, in real life, that's just not so. That's no excuse not to keep trying. I need to just do something.  But thinking time is required. Doing mindless things like cleaning bathrooms, folding laundry and vacuuming provides me with thinking time. My chores earlier this morning led to this post, scattered though it may be.


How about you? When do you do your best thinking? What creative pursuits are you involved in today?


Here are a couple of links to sites that might interest the creative mind - and I believe we are all creative in one way or another.


Daily Routines - this blog is no longer active, but the archives offer glimpses of the routines of people like C. S. Lewis, Winston Churchill and Emily Dickinson.

Creating Brains is a blog I just found and am eager to explore. Leonardo da Vinci's process is featured in this post.