Creative Potential

The other day I re-read that most of our creative potential is unrealized. For years, people have been saying we use so little of our brain....10%. Since the theory was proposed, scientists declared it to be an urban myth, saying that our brains are always active & have a function, & our intelligence can increase with training. We still believe the myth even though we know the truth of it.

Everyone is creative. Everyone. I participated in a class that my friend Rex presented several years ago & struggled so much to paint & decorate a small box, even saying I was craft-challenged. What I learned is that I need more time to engage in any sort of artistic endeavor. Once I give myself over to it, some amazing things evolve. 

All Tuesday, I worked on these 12.5" blocks using the same pattern I found the day earlier. They look quite different from each other because different fabrics make either a bolder statement or seem to simply blend.

I want to do 16-blocks on my Grandson's holiday quilt that has developed from the 12" Christmas Block Swap. 

Sixteen seems to be the number I am using these days. Sixteen for the two bed runners, 16 for the boy's quilt, This one is called a Bento Box & looks best with two contrasting fabrics. I want to work on a Wonky or Liberated House for the last one. What surprises me about that is how I have worked hard to match points & corners on all my blocks, so making one that is off the standard lines might prove to be challenging.

Model of Creative Potential from the Insight Center

Encouraging others to accept their creativity is so much more easy than recognizing creative potential within myself. I think it comes down to getting out of my own way. Somewhere along the line, I defined creativity and cut myself out of the definition. My self talk decided that what I made wasn't good, and in fact, wasn't good enough. I see on this image that it has a lot to do with Personality and External Environment. All that negative self-talk really blocks or kills the creative juices within.

Its almost down right miraculous that I even continued with this fabric art. In the very beginning, some really terrible mistakes happened. Thing was, I was so uneducated regarding the construction of quilts that I didn't even see. 

Most things I have studied over the years have been wonderfully complex as well as super simple. Bottom line is that there is more, always more to learn, to explore, to embrace and even to reject. We probably have a better chance for quality of life if we use our creativity in some way, any way. 

My current evolution of spirit is creating a break-through self-inflicted habits, routines and beliefs about quilting that are being replaced with significantly different visions for it. Thanks to my friend Virginia who turned me onto a very artistic quilter's blog,  http://cauchycomplete.wordpress.com/ and got me doing some very deep thinking.

It takes me longer to engage than most people. I think I weigh in all the parts and pieces of potential and then jump right in. Thanks to everyone who adds to my creative potential, to all the teachers, friends, elders in my family. You have made me a better thinker, and maybe even a better quilter.