Convenience v. Creativity
One of the things I find interesting about staying home in this time is how it has highlighted some of the conveniences I usually experience. Although I suppose I could run to the grocery store, I've made the choice to not visit any stores, other than to pickup curbside. This requires ordering groceries online. Since everyone else has the same idea, time slots are limited, and I need to plan my grocery order about a week in advance. Just today, we ordered groceries online for pickup. The earliest available pickup time was 7:00 p.m., Friday, April 3rd. In fact, that was the only time available, and we snatched it up.
That's a big change from just dashing to the store on a whim, or for that one item I forgot.
I've had to rethink other habits. Can't go to the post office? I learned how to buy and print postage for a package from USPS.com and scheduled it to be picked up from my house. (I'm happy to report it was very easy.) Can't go to the library? Check out some e-books, or read the dozens of books I have that I've never read. Can't meet with friends? Use video calling to visit.
The lack of access to the conveniences I'm accustomed that has prompted creative thinking:
What can I make with what I've got? (Cardboard tube chutes, toilet paper building blocks for toys.)
What ingredient can I substitute for one I don't have? (Google can be your friend here. I found the changes I needed to make in order to use natural cocoa powder instead of Dutch processed for birthday cake the other day.)
The lack of availability and immediate access to things and places necessitates creativity and patience. I can't just buy a solution to everything. I can create a way with what I do have, or I can exercise patience and wait till that thing becomes available again.
While there are various craft supplies I wish I had right now, I see it as a challenge--an invitation--to create within the imposed limitations. Limitations provide a framework that can narrow our focus, inspire unusual solutions, mixing materials we otherwise wouldn't have mixed.
Certain projects will wait until supplies become available, but I can do so much else with what I have right now. I have all the materials I need to complete one or two of the new quilts I want to make, and to finish the one I already have started. I have everything I need to make a few other sewing and embroidery projects. I have at least a hundred blades that can get me through months of paper cuttings. And if there were nothing else, I have drawing utensils and paper to last for years.
When I think about just how many projects I have the supplies for, I'm amazed and grateful to realize just how incredibly privileged I am. And if we are willing to think creatively, I'd bet that most of us around here are in the same boat. We have what we need to make, do, and make-do.
I don't think this is limited to artists and "creative" types. You might not consider yourself artistic or crafty, but I promise you are creative. You can be creative in so many ways. Writing letters or having conversations over the phone or video can be creative. Working on a house project or rearranging a room is creative. Figuring out how to work from home is creative. Planning what food to make is creative. Playing games, going for a walk, getting dressed, and managing your time can be creative acts. Whether we are still going to work or staying home, these unusual times give us an opportunity to use our creativity to overcome the inconveniences and find ways to cope and even thrive.
That's a big change from just dashing to the store on a whim, or for that one item I forgot.
“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns
in order to look at things in a different way.”
– Edward de Bono
 |
| Fruit Shop, Martiros Sarian, 1910. |
I've had to rethink other habits. Can't go to the post office? I learned how to buy and print postage for a package from USPS.com and scheduled it to be picked up from my house. (I'm happy to report it was very easy.) Can't go to the library? Check out some e-books, or read the dozens of books I have that I've never read. Can't meet with friends? Use video calling to visit.
The lack of access to the conveniences I'm accustomed that has prompted creative thinking:
What can I make with what I've got? (Cardboard tube chutes, toilet paper building blocks for toys.)
What ingredient can I substitute for one I don't have? (Google can be your friend here. I found the changes I needed to make in order to use natural cocoa powder instead of Dutch processed for birthday cake the other day.)
The lack of availability and immediate access to things and places necessitates creativity and patience. I can't just buy a solution to everything. I can create a way with what I do have, or I can exercise patience and wait till that thing becomes available again.
 |
| Girl at a Sewing Machine, Edward Hopper, 1921. |
While there are various craft supplies I wish I had right now, I see it as a challenge--an invitation--to create within the imposed limitations. Limitations provide a framework that can narrow our focus, inspire unusual solutions, mixing materials we otherwise wouldn't have mixed.
"Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas." -- Donatella Versace
Certain projects will wait until supplies become available, but I can do so much else with what I have right now. I have all the materials I need to complete one or two of the new quilts I want to make, and to finish the one I already have started. I have everything I need to make a few other sewing and embroidery projects. I have at least a hundred blades that can get me through months of paper cuttings. And if there were nothing else, I have drawing utensils and paper to last for years.
When I think about just how many projects I have the supplies for, I'm amazed and grateful to realize just how incredibly privileged I am. And if we are willing to think creatively, I'd bet that most of us around here are in the same boat. We have what we need to make, do, and make-do.
I don't think this is limited to artists and "creative" types. You might not consider yourself artistic or crafty, but I promise you are creative. You can be creative in so many ways. Writing letters or having conversations over the phone or video can be creative. Working on a house project or rearranging a room is creative. Figuring out how to work from home is creative. Planning what food to make is creative. Playing games, going for a walk, getting dressed, and managing your time can be creative acts. Whether we are still going to work or staying home, these unusual times give us an opportunity to use our creativity to overcome the inconveniences and find ways to cope and even thrive.
In what ways has social distancing/self isolation/quarantine led you to creativity?
“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think,
is still the secret of great creative people”
– Leo Burnett
*Update* 3/29/20: If you do not have things you need, please reach out. If you are in Cedar Rapids, there is a Facebook group where you can get information and ask for help from community members called "Cedar Rapids Iowa Coronavirus Quarantine Resources." You can also let me know and I will try to help you or find someone who can.
Often the most stimulating art-making episodes I have had have been when I was with other people who were also making art. We would be working in very different projects, but still bounced ideas off each other and inspired each other. I usually work alone at home now, but I still sometimes will talk through my ideas with my mom or a friend. I ask for advice about materials I'm not used to working with. I'll look up examples of what other people have done (Google or Pinterest). Your friends and family and the internet can help you. You do not have to be creative alone just because we are physically isolated.
Often the most stimulating art-making episodes I have had have been when I was with other people who were also making art. We would be working in very different projects, but still bounced ideas off each other and inspired each other. I usually work alone at home now, but I still sometimes will talk through my ideas with my mom or a friend. I ask for advice about materials I'm not used to working with. I'll look up examples of what other people have done (Google or Pinterest). Your friends and family and the internet can help you. You do not have to be creative alone just because we are physically isolated.
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