During the past two years, Creativity introduced itself to me. I have drawn a lot of enjoyment and value from the relationship. My relationship with Creativity was a perfect example of the expression – “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear”.

Since I do not consider myself a creative person, the following words by the author Kurt Vonnegut speak to me:

“Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow. Being good at things is not the point of doing them. I think you got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teach you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

I have not focused too much on creative activities in the past. I blamed it on a lack of time and creative abilities. The Covid lockdown forced me to find something to do. I started focusing more on taking pictures, writing, experimenting with new recipes and painting with acrylic paint.

Pictures

With pictures, I decide on a subject and then try to capture it through my lens from different angles. Sometimes it’s a season, place, occasion, or time of day or year. I try various techniques that force me to look at everyday objects differently. A level of detail I have never noticed suddenly becomes visible to me. It excites me to observe the colour, design, and patterns of things in nature that are constantly changing. I shared my observations in my letter entitled Photography as a teacher of the art of observation.

Baking and Cooking

Since I must cook every day, I decided to incorporate more creativity. The fresh produce on the store shelves is seasonal and constantly changing. As soon as something new appears, I try to find recipes to test it out. The Swiss, for example, have Spätzli, which is almost like pasta, with seasonal vegetables. I also regularly try new variations with Gnocchi and Risotto.

My eldest son has a Vegan Bakery, the Cinnamon Club, that bakes the most beautiful cakes. I am constantly amazed by the creative outcomes. I share more about this in my letter Cooking with love, inspired by my son.

Painting

My painting efforts are still at the Grade 1 level. We started Paint-by-Numbers as a winter month entertainment project. I enjoyed it so much that I acquired paint, brushes and paper. The outcomes are not yet something I am willing to show, but I find the process enjoyable. My latest pictures are more of an abstract nature and develop as I go along. I enjoy abstract artwork more since there is less room for visible mistakes.

Pleasure in creativity

I’m still a beginner in many respects, but the enjoyment and positivity I experience when I do it are invaluable! There is a lot of personal satisfaction in trying something new and seeing how you progress. It is also very relaxing and transfers me to a different world. I had to accept that I was doing this simply for the enjoyment of it and had to send my inner critic away as far as possible.

I like Albert Einstein’s expression, “Creativity is intelligence having fun”. Creativity helps me to look at the world and objects around me in new ways. I suddenly find correlations between things I never noticed before. I am more aware of and find joy in the little things.

All of us can benefit from the relationship with Creativity and should invest more time in this fun friendship.

regards

Emsia