On creativity

Lately I've been hearing from a lot of people "I wish I was as creative as you"... and it makes me sad. I honestly don't think of myself as a super creative person. I have trouble producing on demand. I tend to synthesize ideas. I am always better at editing, than creating from scratch. And a lot of my designs are influenced by the material. i.e. if I'm quilting something, it is limited - it has to be a quilt design, and is nothing like something I would draw or paint. In fact, if you give me a set of limitations, I'm better at finding my way out of them - it's a bit like problem solving. But if you give me a blank canvas, more often than not, the result is not pretty.

Anyway, I'm not trying to get down on myself, and it's certainly not the praise that saddens me (acknowledgment gives me the warm fuzzies). I like most of what I make, and I always enjoy the effort. With a bit of practice, I think I get good at some things. But I don't think it's a special talent, and it is not something that comes naturally to me.

My little sister is one of those people with a natural - and very special - talent. Everything she touches drips with raw creativity, and at 12, she already has a mostly cohesive style. She has brilliant ideas. She can draw something, and not just make a cute picture or a pretty picture, but something that captures the personality and expression of her subject. I am so so proud of her, and always so excited to see what she can do.

I don't know if she'll chose a creative career, but if she does, I know that most such careers are an up-hill battle, requiring an enormous amount of work. And she has a kind of mad genius quality that lets her do some things that no one else can do, but also makes some things more difficult.

With projects like the proposal, I think of her. When I run into an obstacle - like buying the wrong materials, or getting sick, not having enough time or being too lazy, or feeling like I just can't get something to look that way I want, I think of Asha. I want her to feel like these are all things that can be overcome, and that you can do anything you set your mind to.

So it makes me very sad when you tell me you think I'm more creative than you, or that you wish you could make things, or that you are discouraged. I was really hoping that you'd say the opposite. That you were encouraged. That you tried something new. That you love it.