1/14/13—Getting Creative

Today's Draw: The Gardener from the Gaian Tarot. What kind of a creator are you? What do you create? And which do you value most—the destination or the ride?

Most call her the Empress, but Joanna Powell Colbert calls her the gardener. She is the earth mother...the creator...the nurturer. 

All of us have some garden we tend in our lives. Some of us grow things from seed. Some of us plant seedlings. Some of get fully grown plants and hope we don't kill them. And some of us like to cross-pollinate and create new strains. 

When it comes to actual greenery and plants, I'm a seedling girl. I have a pretty extensive herb garden that stays in containers. I'm not good at tending at beds, so I let them go wild. But elsewhere in my life I'm all about creating new strains and growing from seed.

This year I'm hoping to get a publishing contract for a spiritual book. That was a goal last year, but I just lost my grasp on it with all the other stuff going on in my life. Meanwhile, my spreadcrafting product, The Deck of 1000 Spreads, will be coming out in March (now available for pre-order on Amazon and everywhere else). And I've just self-published the Deck of Lenormand Houses, which is pretty much the same thing, but with Lenormand (a popular fortune-telling oracle). I'm also hoping to unearth the glass from the junk room this year so I can go back to making stained glass. 

I don't know what I would do or who I would be if original thought and the expression of it were not allowed in our society. It's such a big part of my world, touching nearly every waking hour. My job in advertising pretty much depends on it. And after hours I work on things like those decks and this blog. They say there are no original ideas, but I don't agree. Nor do I think it matters, as long as it's original to me. 

I'm not really sure what all this musing is about, except that I know for every person like me, there's at least one other person intimidated by creativity. Either they feel it has to be perfect or they have to have a big idea or even have to be good at it. But like I said up above, there are many ways to tend a garden. If you're not confident with growing from seed, then buy a seedling (like a craft kit) or fully grown plant (like something nearly complete that you can easily embellish.) Nothing compares to a gift or possession that you have put your heart and soul into creating, imo. 

We're all so different and I'm sure there are people out there who dislike being creative with the same passion as I like it. But I think there are a lot of people out there who shy away from creative projects because they think they won't do it well. For example, I can't draw, but it doesn't keep me from making my own stained glass patterns or creating card decks or anything else. 

The goal isn't to display your art publicly or get compliments from others or to even like it yourself. After all, all the actual creation happens in the process. If you only get joy out of the finished product, you may as well just buy something on etsy. The real joy is in the doing, whether you do it well or not. You just have to give yourself the permission to enjoy the ride, even if it ultimately leads you to Uglyville.