In mature student land I have a project that I’ve been working on. I’ve got several actually but the one that really blows my skirt up is the social media class projects. Anything to do with design and I’m hooked. From concept to execution, I love it. From newsletters to videos: like chocolate for PMS if I could still eat chocolate … This project is about having a blog. Lucky me – I already had one so I could tick that off the list. Next we had to choose a focus for the blog. That is where my challenge began. How to define my blog ?
That is one thing I’ve always struggled with. What to specifically write about. Do I have a couple of blogs for different things ? Do I choose one thing and only write about that ? According to industry recommendations, that’s exactly what I should do. My creative soul just about threw up at the idea of only talking about one thing incessantly or having to log in to multiple sites to leave the right words on the right page. That is not how I roll.
So to define this project I chose a general theme of creativity. I also came up with the idea to write reviews for the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Both of these ideas were approved and off I went. The BPAC part ? That has not happened so much. What I failed to factor in to my idea was the despite my enthusiasm, I have absolutely no time. None. If I’m not working on school stuff, its Guide stuff or home stuff. Where was I going to find time to go to performances and then blog about it ? I remain hopeful that I’ll get at least one in …
Part of this project also involved us making a video about our theme. No problem, I thought. Then reality struck again – how do I film being creative ? Who wants to watch me taking pictures ? Who wants to watch me typing for my blog ? Who wants to watch me decorating a cake ? And worse yet, do I want to watch myself ? Give me a few months with a trainer and I might. For right now – not on your life. So being the creative type, I changed my approach. I looked at the process of being creative. Where do I find inspiration ? And as some of my best ideas are wont to do, in the hour of stillness where you aren’t quite asleep but your mind is feeling free, I got it. My safe place. My go to. My local library.
I love this place. LOVEEEEEEE. It brings me peace. It fills my brain. It occupies my kids. It provides myriad and sundry opportunities for inspiration and creativity. Walking and talking fulfill some of this process but it is within the stacks of this most venerable institution that I find it best. Music, art, gardening, cake ideas, bee farming – all here. Stories about people and dogs and flowers and cities and how to make compost. All here. Blows my mind every time I think about all the possibilities. You know how some women feel about shoes ? This is how I feel about books.
And would you believe I spent years buying magazines when you can borrow them for free from here ? I just about fell over when I found that out. Now there are some forms of inspiration that arrive between those glossy pages that I must own but for the most part my house is much tidier without a cavalcade of Bon Appetite and Architectural Digest snaking about my living room floor. For a few drops in the late fee bucket, all this and more is available to me seven days a week. For this I make time.
The Burlington Public Library – Central Branch was kind enough to allow me to come in and shoot some pictures and some video. With that, I created my view on the creative process. Where I go to get inspired, to polish my writing, to read about Buddha, to travel, to just sit amongst those who were brave enough to commit their thoughts or images to paper. That alone is quite inspiring for me. Now some you wonder how much an editor had to drink the day the manuscript crossed their desk but isn’t that part of the creative process ? Allowing and encouraging people to get happy and create. Isn’t that the very definition of creativity ? Whether it’s between the pages or on a screen, made of flour or made of light and color – it’s all about defying definition.