Creativity and a Recommended Book

Last week just flew by, and here I am, entering the final week of the Bead Shops Hop and with no idea of what I'm doing for holiday cards this year. I'd better settle down and see what I can do. It'll be much simpler this year, but that's not a bad thing at all. Many of last year's cards had a small enclosure that I made and I'm thinking of doing something like that once again because it was a lot of fun to design and make. I'll have to see if I get any computer time this week to get the basics ordered - envelopes, card stock, etc.

Creativity is something that everyone has in some measure, but it comes
out in very different ways. I am creative in art and things that require
imagination. Other people are creative in the kitchen or in business. I don't
think anyone is creative across the spectrum of human behavior and endeavor. 

There's something both hard and easy about creativity. It's hard because I have so many different ideas and things I want to do but my time is extremely restricted and I have to pull myself back from "want to do" into the realm of "can actually accomplish". I want to do so many things - draw, paint, work with my pastels, enamel, shape stone and play with fire and metal. In reality, I can get to the gym six days a week, get to work five days a week, do lots of laundry loads, sweep the kitchen floor, vacuum the carpeting and, maybe, work on getting the last of the trade paperback books culled and shelved.

Both sides of your brain need to be exercised and used. Without
creativity, there can be no jumps in analysis. Without
settling down to analyze, creativity may be stunted. Both
sides work together to make a complete person. 

In reality, I have nine Wednesdays before my holiday cards have to be in the mail. I haven't started designing them at all, although I have a very good idea of what I own for materials, etc. But I have a total of nine days in which to pull these together. Pardon me while I scream into the aether ... OK, got that out of my system. The easy part of creativity is having a deadline into which I need to shove it. It's rather like pushing down rising bread - hard to do but worth the fight. Now to get my thoughts in order and start the process. ... Simplicity, here I come!

Did Einstein actually say this? Maybe - or maybe not. But I agree with
the statement, no matter if I can actually ascribe it to him or not.
Creativity is my happy playground. It makes my work routine worthwhile. 

I'm off to the swimming pool and then the Chiropractor. I hope all of you have a wonderful day. As an aside, I'm just finishing a wonderful book and I'm recommending it to those of you who may want a view into what nurses go through in a day's work. The book is "The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patient's Lives" by Theresa Brown, RN. Excellent book that I highly recommend to all of you. Have a great Monday!