the need to create

I am thankful for the chance to create. When I was a little girl I carried a pencil and a folded piece of paper with me everywhere I went. That is until one day when I accidentally stabbed myself in the leg with the pencil and I freaked my mom out provoking a long lecture about lead poisoning. So, instead of giving up this habit completely, I switched to carrying a blue crayon and kept my habit quietly.
I was eager to capture what I saw. Maybe it meant drawing a picture, maybe it meant writing down a memory or capturing a moment, maybe it meant having opportunity to draw or doodle when bored. In any case, this piece of paper was important. This is a habit that has continued on in my life. My purse is usually filled with many pens and folded pieces of paper. My backpack has pens and sometimes there are sets of stationery and note cards so that I can write a letter if I want regardless of where I am.
Sometimes we forget, overlook, or bury our dreams. Yet what I have realized is that I have always felt the need to create. It is something I simply do. I wake up and begin to write or work on a piece of art - even if it is only in my mind that I am working in it, figuring it our before my hands go to work. Sometimes I keep a pad of paper & a pen next to the bed because I may wake up with an idea that needs to be captured before it gets lost in sleep. 
I love to keep my hands busy making something beautiful. I have made jewelry from hand-blown Italian glass beads. I have done calligraphy. I have created puppets and stuffed animals. I have painted pottery. I have made costumes. I’ve dabbled in theatrical makeup. I have filled many sketchbooks full of drawings of people I have seen on the bus or at the library or somewhere in passing. I have made patchwork quilts. I have painted with acrylic paints and created sculptures from wire. I have made collages and greeting cards. I have a list of ways in which I’d like to create – things I want to do in my lifetime – like make handmade paper and do mosaics and the list goes on and on. 

I love and am passionate about being creative. I am grateful for my imagination, the time to create and hands that still work, despite the ways in which I overwork them.