What do you do that is "creative"?

I used to love playing my flute in chamber groups....flute was stolen (long story) & oral surgery made it impossible to play anyway so that is a closed chapter of my life.

I have since taught myself to paint (thank you YouTube & pintrest). I knit, do beading jewelry which I haven't had time for in several years either.

My creativity time right now has been put into working on my farm & in my house trying to finish off work that needs done & keeping it in repair.

I am on the decoration crew for the spring eventing show at the ky Horse Park which put the flowers in at all the x-country jumps & decorated the arena for the dressage & the jumping event on the last day. Besides getting to see all 4 days events for free we get to take home the flowers after the show.....pick order by number of hours we volunteer. It gives me beautiful flowers to plant together in potting arrangements. That is always my May/June creative project.

I enjoy changing my home decor & wreaths around the house according to the season but always seem to be behind.....ugh, I hate Christmas still up in July & Aug but some years are just like that. I got one of those cinnamon brooms for my birthday & enjoyed decorating it with silk flowers, ribbon & peacock feathers.

Right now I'm working on painting a baby shower gift....a huge wooden letter "E" & a sweet looking little fox since that is the theme of the baby's room. It took me awhile to figure out what I was going to do so only sketched it out on paper & taped it to the stained letter. Finished staining & now working on the fox & name. It it turning out great but I am just slow with my creativity not wanting to mess it up.....the baby is due tomorrow

I draw pictures of my favourite video game/movie characters.

Mostly Link, Zelda, Loki and other nerdy things. Also cats.

IMG_0600.JPG

loki2.jpg

I do artwork Depends on my mood and the time factor , ie how busy I am. I do colored pencil drawings or acrylic paintings of mostly different people. Women, men, children. I write posts to my blog. I consider that a form of creative writing.

I'm going to paint some rocks and hide them around town.

crochet, dreamcatchers, take scrap wood and turn it into different things. Currently trying to turn a almost 100lb piece of 150 year old solid oat tree into a fairy house but it's to damn heavy to move and i don't have the tools right now to lighten it.

Hah! I like that. It sounds like fun for people.
And possibly mischievous.

There's been some good stuff in this thread, and people seem to be enjoying it. I'm glad I asked.

I am learning metal sculpture. Creative blacksmithing with old motorcycle parts. Sort of like steam punk.

I design, make, and sell costume jewelry.

etsy.com/TammysJewelryStation

I like drawing, designing and making tools for my trade, and jewelry making. All my jewelry is made out of old pocket watch and small clock parts.

I'd like to try making some jewelry on machine tools, such as a lathe and mill, one day soon.

For Cepheid Variable: Thanks so much for this thread!

As you stated so well, mental issues can really take the shine out of a lot of former pastimes. I know this too well.

And yes, there are so many different types and expressions of creativity, they probably number enough to make chapters for a few editions of books!

Now that I've started to get some of my creative urges back (YES, it can happen!), I think back over how fortunate I was before *allathishappened*, and reflect on what I used to do (and can still do, to some extent) without getting sad and triggered, anymore (finally!):

-painting, drawing, studied and played with illustration in college
-jewelry (from an unusually young age); double-majored in it in college (still want to
get back to it!)
-was obsessed with designing living spaces, and thought about being an architect as a
kid
-renovated a small house and did all the ceramic tiling inside
-used to sing, and wanted to take dance lessons (no $ unfortunately back then)---still
plink around with my guitar from time to time
-Took an IA course in middle school to familiarize myself with woodworking tools; have
enjoyed refinishing furniture very much (Dad was a woodworker!, and we were pals.)
-Have worked professionally as a Graphic Artist, and have also worked in a sign shop
-love to cook, and try new cuisines & recipes!

Would love to:
-brush up on computer graphics skills
-get back to designing jewelry in a meaningful way
-get back to painting, if only for therapeutic reasons

Big smiles and hugs to all fellow creatives out there....

Keep fighting!! You can do it.

I love refinishing old furniture. I have done quite a few pieces over
the years and would love to do more but I live in an apartment now
so don't have any place to do it. I am thinking about renting a garage
so I can work on more pieces and have a little studio with all my tools.

@MuseumGhost

You mean there's a PROCESS to designing and making jewelry?

Dayum...I just sit down with a box full of findings and whatever beads or whatever I bought on impulse because I liked it.

WW

There are so many ways people approach their fave pastimes. No rules---just have fun with it.

Spontaneity is something I wish I had more of in my life!



for Ff: Refinishing furniture is so satisfying. I hear ya on the need more space thing......

We are planning to start reupholstering and refinishing the chairs to my grandmas dining set. We did the rest of it years ago, but ran out of steam, quite frankly.

Now, if we just had money...

Right now, the only "creative" thing that I do is design web sites.

In the future, I want to get into cosplay. The only problem is that cosplay is such an expensive hobby so I need to make sure that my finances are in order first.

I am creative with ropework (non-sexual BDSM) and dancing (not necessarily together).

That sounds like how I used to make meals.

Me too on the spontaneity. It's difficult with my anxieties and my overthinking neurotic personality. Still, once in a blue moon, I'll just do something to see what happens -- even if it's silly or pointless. It's an innate general curiosity. I wish I knew where the strength and motivation to sometimes actually do it comes from.

I know, I hear you, CV. The same problems have squashed my ability to just, "go with it", and see where it leads me. I miss that.

But I have been freed somewhat from its chains, too. It's like a breath of fresh air, having creative urges again. (I could easily use stronger metaphors than that, but you get what I mean!)

Hugs for newbies, or anyone!, struggling with this...remember, it's NOT your fault, it's the illness.

DO NOT let anything, or anyone, tell you different.

I'm naturally a really creative person & I love arts and crafts! I do many things and there's still things I want to try.
My Creative Hobbies Include:
Painting
Drawing
Writing Poetry
Ceramics
Crochet
Jewelry Making
Looming
Nail Art
Song Writing
Candle Making
Playing Keyboard Piano
Baking

I draw, make kandi, craft and sometimes sew! I wanna get into fursuit crafting too!

I think building a good music library on Pandora is creative.....

I write articles for my happiness blog. I am a blogger and somewhat of a website designer, although those skills need improvement, lol.

I am a painter (mixed media artist to be precise) and musician (player and composer) but unfortunately I am too depressed at the moment to be able to do either of these - my motivation has just dried up and I feel both lacking ideas and too tired and that everything I try to turn my hand to is useless. This is a problem as painting in particular can be very helpful to me therapeutically as I have in the past used it as a way of expressing and working through painful feelings - as a way of giving them form so that I can handle them and understand myself better. The physical process of painting is also very cathartic, as is playing music. Haven't painted much on a large scale for a long time, just a few digital sketches, and musically it's been 2 months since I last composed something and at the moment am barely even touching my keyboard.

I also love to garden and make things grow but when I neglect my garden and let things become overgrown or die through not being watered this makes me feel worse so it's not good for me when I don't have the energy to keep on top of it like right now.

Today I'm painting rocks. I belong to a rock-painting group; we paint them and hide them for others to find. It's fun, although somewhat discouraging because my ability to paint and hand-letter is so affected by my medication-induced tremor. Very frustrating.