Wednesday, June 23, 2010

On the Balance Beam


Good Morning.

In a lesson yesterday from Flying Lessons, the ecourse by Kelly Rae Roberts she talked about balance in the creative life. First she shared this thought.

Inspiration and passion - little to zero balance

Whew! All my life I thought I had to hsve sll the parts of my being in balance - time for family, time for housework, time for friends and time to create. I spent sooo much energy trying to keep the teeter totter level. (Remember how much it smarted when your butt went crashing to the ground?)

Finally, here is someone telling me it's okay to be unbalanced. It's natural when you are in the creative whirlwind to want to shut out the rest of the world, to concentrate on your art. I needed to hear this. I suffer guilt pangs when I have to tell my family, "leave me alone."

I wonder who am I to give my craft so much attention. (After all I'm not making a lot of money.)But there are times when I'm compelled to create. I wake with an urgency to get to my workroom, to try a new fabric combination or work on a new design. I grab a cup of coffee and am gone, not physically but mentally, for days. When I surface I'm exhausted but happy. And if interrupted by a whine or chore (You say you want clean clothes this week?) watch out, here comes the witch.

There is little balance when the creative juices are flowing. I feel energetic and joyful. Can it be bad to feel so good?

Thanks, Kelly, for telling me this is normal and part of the creative life. Rather than searching for better balance, I'll try to be better at communicating my needs for crative space to all in my life.
I'm jumping off the balance beam.

1 comment:

tskross said...

I love the guitar pattern!

Balance shmalance, its time to do what you love to do. If it makes you happy, it will make your friends and family happy too. Can't wait to come visit!