I used to love cooking. I once enthusiastically spent three days preparing a Thanksgiving meal, including brining, butter-flying and high-roasting a 20 pound turkey! Lately, though, as I spend more of my creative energy writing my book blogging and building my business, it usually feels like just one more have-to-do: chop, heat, insert food, wash, dry, on to the next thing….
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| baby chard leaves paint a pattern on my omlette |
One day recently I was wiped by mid morning. My eyes were fuzzing up as I looked at my computer screen and I had nothing left to write. So I decided to get up and revisit a tiny creative act I used to so enjoy—making my lunch.
It would have been easier to re-heat a frozen meal, but this wasn’t just about inserting food. It was about the simple, hands-on act of creating a meal—some of it was perfunctory, like cracking the eggs—and some of it was creative, like deciding what to put inside.
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| Making it pretty, just because! |
But the nicest part was taking the time to just make something little and enjoy the process–the smell of the eggy crust forming, the ooze of the cheese as it softened and melted, and dotting my little salad with red tomatoes—just because it was pretty.
That omlette fed my spirit as well as my hunger. And not surprisingly, when I went back to my computer, I found there was something to write.
We are so much more than what we “produce”! What tiny creative act can you cook up?
Hi Katherine:
I just discovered your website and I love it! You are a hoot as well as an inspiration. It’s wonderful knowing there’s another soul out here on her crazy mission to develop a culture of creatives one person at a time. I look forward to your next tiny creative act—with relish.
Thanks Kim! Here’s to crazy missions and a culture of creatives!