Being a creative is an amazing life to live. Being a creative with multiple areas of interest can be exhausting, but never boring.
I always knew I wanted to be a writer. From the time I was in my high school creative writing classes, I knew it was my destiny. Now I write on assignment for local and state publications and write here.
After I married Keith at 22-years-old, I discovered a love of oil painting. This is something I did as a craft and made paintings, birdhouses, Christmas ornaments and gifts for others. I haven’t painted in years save for my kitchen walls.
I discovered a love for photography after my children were grown. Sure, I took photos when my girls were young, but once the digital age amped up and I always had an iPhone in my pocket, I was hooked. Keith gifted me with several cameras (now I have a Nikon 5300 DSLR and love it) my photography skills took off. I have had several mentors in this area and what they’ve taught me is gold!
All of these areas of interest are packed with the opportunity to be creative. I learn something new every week about hidden iPhone skills. I am doing more experimentation on getting off of the Program mode on my camera and this makes my camera abilities much more flexible and individual. (I will post about my mentor, Bob Lerner, who past away a few months ago soon).
I love learning and am currently enrolled in It’s a Lovely Life courses by Pete and Heather Reese. If you have any interest in blogging, you cannot do better than trying their free “5 Days to Starting a Money Making Blog” course. It taught me so much that I went on to take their “Start a Money Making Blog”, “Fast Track to Becoming a Travel Blogger” course and their “WordPress Blastoff” course. These learning experiences have been invaluable and the support this school provides is top notch.
So, now problem finding a creative outlet to invest in at any given moment. But, I wish I could focus better on one thing at a time. Look at blogging: writing and photography skills come in to play with every effort I make. This is the part I love. But I need to do so many things that will build my audience and get the words and photographs I want to share. I find the creative side much more fun, but the business side is just as important…arguably.
If you have a passion for any creative endeavor, do yourself a favor: explore it. Even if it costs money, start small and find things you can do for little or no money. There is always someone getting rid of materials from an old art passion that they’ve found is not for them. Just ask around.
What are your creative endeavors? As you investing in yourself by learning and playing with keeping that passion alive….at least a little? There are so many free leaning videos online by people who are trying to sell a course or webinar. The beauty of this? You can learn so much from the free offerings? I try to participate in a few free webinars a month. Some times I’m tempted to take the class and wait until I can afford it. Other times, I am so motivated and enriched by the lessons they teach.
Many blessings, thanks for reading and get out there and create!
