on creativity – part 1

At the beginning of summer a year ago, I signed up for a few Kim Klassen photography classes with weekly lessons that focus on finding our stillness and creativity (something I was in desperate need of then, and apparently continue to need now…). I had the whole summer ahead of me and grand visions of the beautiful photography I would create. Thoughts of gorgeous props like fresh-cut flowers and pretty little teacups with saucers that I’d find in out-of-the-way antique stores, quaint or rustic backdrops, experimenting with different lenses, and gorgeous morning light streaming through my one-and-only east-facing window ran temptingly through my head…

However, last summer, like this one, all my plans for spending even an hour or two a week on something meaningful to me washed away with the daily grind. Work, house cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, and running a then-drivers-licenseless teenager hither and yon sucked my energy dry, leaving me an empty husk. Oh, I managed to read and watch a few of the lessons and even posted a few pictures on the blog, but once school started back up again in the fall, I was off to the races and rarely bothered to open the weekly lesson plans, promising I’d catch up on the next break from classes at Christmas or Spring.

This summer my plan was again to catch up, but here it is, almost the first of August, and once more I’ve been extremely sluggish about following through with my plan. I’ve thought about it more than once, but I’ve been feeling completely uninspired and more than a little… I don’t even know. I’ve never been one to get depressed, but for whatever reason I just feel… blah. I’m not sad, really, but I’m not happy either. I’m just existing and watching time pass while I try to figure out where the joy has gone. In my free time, rather than doing things I know I love like photography, writing, reading, or connecting with friends, I find myself wanting to become a hobbit, living quietly in my personal little Shire hole.

The reality that summer’s almost over and I haven’t done anything really self-fulfilling had me running to print out the lesson plans of all 52-weeks  before they go away forever. Looking through them, I can tell I missed out on a lot!

So here I am again, making promises to myself to start working through the lessons and adding a little joy and “me-time” to my life. The first lesson is to write about our “creativity journey,” which is where I’ll start tomorrow…

I know I’ve neglected this blog of mine dreadfully, but if there are any readers still out there… Stay tuned!

And if not, I really just need to reconnect with my love of writing, even if it’s only for myself.

Until tomorrow… ❤