The fall issue of airdirelife is my favourite. We focus on the creative — in art, business, education, parenting.
There are a lot of opinions on the word “creativity” out there. Here are a couple of my favourites:
“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” – Robin Williams
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein
Recently, I went through a bunch of costume jewelry I asked for, and inherited, from my grandma. Her jewelry was so much fun. She’d let us wear whatever we wanted when my sister and I played dress-up with her.
She even had her jewelry hanging on her walls of her bedroom. My grandpa made hangers from six-inch-long dowels that he attached a thin wire to. Grandma would then cover the dowelling with fabric, and that’s what she hung all her necklaces from. Grandpa also made wooden hooks for her bracelets. She kept all her rings in a large drawer in her dresser and hung her earrings on dyed burlap sheets that also decorated her walls.
She made a lot of it herself. She had a tumbler in the shed she polished her rocks with, which she set in findings, also made by my grandpa. It was all so big and bold and colourful! Grandma couldn’t afford gold, and only later did she begin to acquire silver. I loved it!
Once upon a time, in a universe far, far away, I was a municipal councillor. Often our meetings ran quite late. I would be wide awake when I got home. It didn’t take me long to start doodling around, making my own jewelry: necklaces, bracelets, earrings. I made it for myself and sold a bunch at Christmas craft shows and summer fairs.
I’d buy old pieces from a garage sale, or thrift store, and take it all apart to make something unique, to me.
The apples didn’t fall from the tree. My sister became a silversmith. She has the true talent!
I have never met anyone who isn’t creative in one way or another. We all have it inside of us; it’s just a matter of tapping into it. It could be gardening, balancing numbers, meal planning, kids’ activities, exercise, repairs — anything.
I take my inspiration from my grandkids. Kids aren’t afraid of anything; they’ll try everything. They have no fear. They haven’t heard for years they can’t do something, or that they don’t have a creative bone in their body. And they aren’t afraid to use their imagination.
At this stage, we need to hang out more with kids, which leads to opportunities to share what we both have.
Let’s be reminded of this. As British author Neil Gaiman once said, “The imagination is a muscle. If it’s not exercised, it atrophies.”
I will always treasure the creative exercise my grandma’s jewelry gave me — and still does.
