01.27.22 Making a Space to Play

Mastering Skills… nah, just have fun. Really. It’s okay.

Since my last post months and months ago I have devoted a lot of energy and time indulging my curiosity as an attempt to play and be creative. I have challenged my own typical intentions of devoting my time and effort to mastering skills to the idea of NOT mastering something, but intentionally playing around with ideas and skills for the sake of exploration, learning, and experimentation and not necessarily on mastering an particular skill. I tend to want to master everything and not simply experience it. I have tried let go of the desire or goal of mastery and embraced an intention to play. Oh, and in the past I wanted everything I attempted to turn out. That is a handy goal when it is important to produce something, but not so handy with the intention is to play. So, I have tried let go of mastering and producing as my intention.

I have spent time playing with and resisting the mastering of photo editing, junk journalling; paper-folding; watercolor painting; inkjet printing on fabric, crumb quilt piecing; long-arm quilting; new free-motion designs on my domestic sewing machine; designing and sewing stuffies; and doll making. During this time of limited travel and social gathering, plus the current season of a real-life Minnesota cold and snowy winter and less outdoor activities, I have found the past months to be the perfect time to take these side trips.

Unfinished projects. Baggage. Manage those.

Another thing for me to consider is that I tend to want to ‘finish’ things. I recognized that some unfinished projects cause me anxiety. Guilt? Pressure? Okay ALL unfinished projects make me uncomfortable. I have a bunch of them. Having them de-motives me to start new projects and certainly to allowing time for playing. I somehow feel responsible to finish projects before starting anything new. To try and neutralize that mind-block, I have begun to look at projects (and kits) that I have stored (some for years!) and ask myself do I really want to finish them. If I do not, I give it away for someone else to finish or toss it. I have taken a photo or two of some of them that I have let go. I have experienced no regrets. I feel lighter and inclined to either finish some of them (didn’t expect that) or feel freer to start new ones or simply play.

Patience, Grasshopper. Inspiration will come.

I need to remember that often times when creating I will get stuck and I need to work on remembering I will suddenly be inspired and know what I want to do, try, or learn next. Or I will know when to stop. This is very much a part of my creative process and my creative play. When I am stuck I just need to be okay leaving the project or activity. This might mean stepping away for a time. (Well, that feels like ‘unfinished’.) Often my inspiration that comes after exploring other people’s ideas, seeking advice, or skimming through some of the books I have. I also use Pinterest for help. I am trying to practice a relaxed approach to creative play with a lack of urgency that allows me to more enjoy the playing, enhance my creativity, and avoid the feeling that I need to somehow structure or have expectations to my play. I’ve read research that the most creative people have learned to tolerate the discomfort of the internal tension of not having the answer or solution for a longer period of time than others.

Yoga instructor, Laura, says, ‘Make the practice your own.’

Wise words. Thank you, Laura. My practice of creative play also needs to be my own. Measuring it by others’ processes or outcomes is insane because doing that influences my efforts, interferes with my intention, and creates an arbitrary criteria for whether I am successful at creatively playing. Whether I learn anything or make anything needs to be a minor consideration. I need to be present in the moment and feel joy in the playing with ideas. I think that joy should linger.

Do you ever play?

Do you find time to play with your ideas and skills? How do you make that time? Do you explore interests for the simple purpose of your own amusement and curiosity? Does that energize you? Bring you joy? What have you played with lately? What have you explored that opened a new world to you? How so? I am curious to know.