What creative outlets do you have? Mine make me HAPPY–Handwork-Art-Prose-PoetrY

Happy IWSG day!

Creative outlets–like shopping malls for the soul! So many possibilities! Which ones do you shop at? I like so many–which brings me to:

February’s OPTIONAL IWSG Day Question: Besides writing, what other creative outlets do you have?

Our lovely co-hosts for this month:  Raimey Gallant, Natalie Aguirre, CV Grehan, and Michelle Wallace!

Thanks! And feel free to share your thoughts on creative outlets–or other thoughts on the writing life. You can join the blogroll at the IWSG website. They host an blog hop the first Wednesday of every month (with optional prompt) and have a bunch of other great resources, too.

My creative outlets–or “Don’t worry, be HAPPY!”

OK, the focus of this prompt is non-writing creativity, but I still included poetry and prose in my acronym. Otherwise, it would just be HA! Not bad, I guess, but I’m feeling happy today.

But still, I can easily get lost in that dangerous neighborhood called “my brain.” I’ve found the best remedy for it is to do something physical. Long walks are good. But creating something is great! Using my hands and my senses help me to come back to safer ground.

Spinning

Spinning is one of my creative outlets. I learned how to spin about ten years ago, when I gave myself a spinning retreat for my birthday. I went to Esther’s Place in Big Rock, Illinois, about an hour’s drive for me. I spent the night in the upstairs of their luscious yarn store and spent 2 days learning to prepare fiber and spin with a spindle and spinning wheel.

Maybe because I love fairy tales, I’d fantasized about learning to spin. And I loved it! The rhythm of it, the feeling of the wool–very soothing. Plus I had yarn I could use for my other creative outlet—-

Crochet

My Mom taught me to crochet when I was–well, I don’t remember how old I was–maybe 10 or 11. You could say (if you like bad puns (like me)) that I was hooked! I made all sorts of things. Here’s an early project that I made with scraps of leftover yarn. I don’t really use it much, but it makes me happy to see it.

Lately I’ve been crocheting monsters/soul critters–because they help me face my inner monsters and play with them.

Painting

The last of my creative outlets is painting and drawing. Moving color around on the page, creating images from my imagination, telling stories through images–and combining words and images. Sigh–heaven! Even though I sometimes resist getting started–just like I do with writing–once I start, I find much joy here. And if you look around my blog at all, you’ll see plenty of evidence of my playing with paint. Here’s a link to my portfolio of children’s book illustrations, too.

This year, I gave myself a gift–A year of painting class with Alena Henessy–I signed up early and got a great discount. And it’s great fun. I’m learning new techniques and it gives me some structure, which helps me get past that resistance.

What about you?

What are your creative outlets-including writing or not? I’d love to know.

And thanks for stopping by.

Until next time–xoxo