Loose Threads

Pathways to Creativity

In my very first blog post, I showed this picture of my “studio” space I’d designed to support my creative life after retirement. http://seamslikeastory.com/creating-a-space-to-sew-and-write

I’ll admit, I was a young, naïve Blogger(two months ago) eager to impress my audience. One reader suggested it was “too neat to be true.”  I have a confession to make. It doesn’t always look like the photo. You see, my creative life has a split personality.

Different pathways to creativity

I contribute my dichotomy of styles to my parents, Jack and Alice.

Jack liked to have things tidy and organized. If he needed a pencil, sheet of paper, or pair of scissors he knew right where to find them in his organized desk. On the other hand, when Alice got an inspiration, it often took over our household in a flurry of activity leaving an unruly mess in its wake. Dad learned to take refuge in his office when this happened, only peeking out when order had been restored.  Sometimes I’m Jack. I love it when I can go to my sewing pegboard and find my scissors just where they should be, or look at my pattern filing system and take pride that I’d put things back where they belonged. But sometimes, a burst of Alice takes over and I find myself following loose threads.
 I recently had a “loose threads” morning.  It went something like this:

Loose threads interrupt my train of thought…

It takes two

Admittedly, I can’t operate like this all the time or I’d never finish any sewing or writing projects. There is something to be said for order, organization, and focus. But I’m learning to trust those creative outbursts when they occur and run with it.  Who knows? The iced tea photo I submitted along with my story might have been the dangling thread that caught the editor’s attention when she accepted my swizzle stick story for publication.