Creating the Blog

Let me begin by addressing those who found their way to this blog thinking that this is an equine-enthusiast site or a procrastinators paradise… it is neither of those (though I have been known to put off until tomorrow, the day after or indefinitely what should be done yesterday).

I could have named the site “Going off half-cocked” but this sounded decidedly less filthy and more ambiguous.

This is actually a blog devoted to my pursuit of returning to my creative roots. To reclaiming those crafty, artistic, green-thumbed, floured-nosed, ink-stained endeavors that bring me so much joy. I have lost much of my creative self over the past decade as I have been raising my three daughters.

In a time when I was teaching them to embrace their own natural creativity, I was allowing boxes and bins to fill with unfinished projects and half-started ideas. There never seemed to be enough time at the end of the day for the “frivolous” project. On the times I managed to finish one, it was all-consuming as I put important tasks aside to “get it done”. Not a very creative process.

I would also find myself kicking the kids out of the room as I worked. Calling the project my “catharsis” or reward for all the work I did every day. Blah, blah, blah…Basically I hoarded the fun. Squirreled away the experience, knowledge and satisfaction that come from making something from scratch or repurposing discarded items. I should have been bringing the girls in and sharing it with them.

Now that they are all school-aged, independent thinkers, I have decided to make a concerted effort to pursue creativity recklessly. This year will be my own creative revival, so to speak. Starting now, I will begin to take one unfinished project at a time, and complete it. I will find that idea jotted on a scrap of paper and bring it to fruition, that photo of the compost bin made from reclaimed wood and make it from the scraps we have on hand. I will finish the quilt that sits, as blocks, in a bag.

I plan to make my girls my copilots in this journey. I want them to channel their own creativity and feel free to express it. I will teach them to sew, to crochet, and to coax a winter garden out of the frigid ground. We will make soufflés, write plays and craft great messes.

Although I started this blog to chronicle my creative quest (and, lets face it, accountability doesn’t hurt) I do think it will be fun to jot down our adventures-or misadventures-as they come.

Back to the Blog title. I mentioned to a friend that wanted to start a blog about my creative journey with my girls. I told her that I was going to start writing tonight. She asked if I had any idea how to start a blog. I told her, simply, no. She mentioned that I might be putting the cart before the horse…well, lets see if the horse can catch up!