Creating to Survive

It is Day 4 of the #WinterABC2021, still in the spirit of Creatives. For the past couple of days I have been thinking about whether Creatives are born or made, and something someone posted today concretised those thoughts. It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention, and usually, on hearing this I think of the “bigger” inventions like the light bulb, the aeroplane or the telephone, but how about the day-to-day seemingly small “inventions” people are forced to make in order to ease their lives?

I am reminded of my childhood years. Born in a Uganda emerging from years of civil war to parents who had lived through the crazy times, creativity and minor inventions were a way of life. Everyday items were frequently repurposed to serve a need. Nail-holes punched through the bottom of a tin can made a functional grater, plastic holders of medicine ampoules nailed to a wooden board was a perfect holder for the family’s toothbrushes, using the cardboard hearts of toilet rolls as pan holders or to keep curtains in place  And loads of other things.

My siblings and I learnt from and applied our parents’ frugal ways. One thing that really stuck for my sister and I was repurposing clothes. In the true spirit of “omwana akula” (the child is still growing), the clothes purchased for us were usually a couple of sizes bigger. Mum would stitch and tuck to make them fit and they would be let out as you grow as opposed to buying new clothes every few months. Of course, that was quite a bit of stitching and tucking for a household of 5 children, so mum taught us how to do a lot of it ourselves. She showed us how to hem and tuck, make buttonholes and add little decorations here and there to turn a basic outfit into something fancy.

As we got older, my sister and I still made modifications to clothes. A few memorable ones for me were turning a maxi, overly tight skirt into a freer knee-length one, turning trousers into skirts, or ordinary trousers into fancy bell-bottoms with some jean detail. We were usually complimented on our good wardrobe *wink* There was the one time I almost burnt a black trouser-leg while ironing and to cover up I stitched a flower pattern over the almost-burnt area. No one could tell. To date, I still make modifications on my skirts and trousers to counter that waistband gap, and hide small rips in clothes with pretty patches, flowers or strategically placed button detail.

There is the application of creativity in other areas besides clothing and dressing. I recently rented a studio apartment for nearly a year. I was not at liberty to make serious permanent modifications to the space though I really wanted to separate the living and sleeping spaces. Enter creativity. I opened out the box of a fridge and used that not only as a partition for the space, but also as a board for hanging verses and décor on the living side, and jewellery and hair accessories on the sleeping side.

Then there are the things I do with my dreadlocks, but that is a discussion for another day. I might not be one of those Creatives out there, posting or releasing content for the world to consume but my side-hustle creativity does keep my life interesting and saves me a few coins here and there. Creativity today might be viewed as a way to earn a living for some but for others, it is a way to survive. 

#Day4

#WinterABC2021

#CreatingToSurvive

What’s Hindering the Creative in Me?

This is Day 2 of #WinterABC2021 and still in the Creatives Week. For my Day 1 post, I questioned whether I really am a Creative. True, I have a keen interest and moderate proficiency in music, art, and writing, but is that all it takes to be called a Creative? 

Surely not. I am reminded of a wise man who said “If you do not have a market, you do not have a business.” You might have a product like bananas on a farm but until they are in a market stall for purchase, you cannot say you are in business. 

I guess in the same way, however much I am appreciating lyrics, melodies, and harmonies, well-decorated spaces or well-written stories, until I am creating actual content and putting it out there for consumption, I probably am not a Creative. 

But I have a published book *cue smug-faced emoji*.

I guess I am a Creative after all, a side-hustle Creative, but a Creative nonetheless… Hooray!!

But beyond the book, what else have I created and put out there? Why am I not creating, despite my self-proclaimed proficiency in the arts? 

Let’s skip right to it and say FEAR. Whichever reason I come up with, it can be boiled down to that four-letter word. 

I wouldn’t exactly say I am afraid of the unknown. It is known that living as a Creative is not for the faint-hearted. It takes courage to break boundaries, seek out new horizons, or dance to the tune that only you can hear while others call you crazy. So I guess I am afraid of being brave, of being the different one. Following the beaten path is safe, predictable, and acceptable. Being accepted is nice. 

Then there are the expected hardships that Creatives supposedly go through. The uncertainty about where the next meal is coming from, the writer’s/creator’s block, being looked at as a failure or being asked to “get a real job” until the big break comes…. I know this is probably too cliché and Creative or not, one faces all sorts of hardships in whatever field but there’s a certain narrative around being a struggling Creative that seems accepted as the norm. I am afraid of having to find out that this narrative is true. 

There are a couple more reasons that I will probably explore over the next few weeks, but let me stop here for now. As I work to overcome my fears, I will continue to be a side-hustle Creative. 

#Day2 #WinterABC2021 

#SideHustleCreative

Am I A Creative? #WinterABC2021 #Day1

This is a word that has been going around a lot lately.

Creative. With a Capital “C”. 

Not the adjective definition of “relating to or involving the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something.” 

But an actual noun. A person who makes a job of creating stuff.

Whenever I hear the word used in that sense, the mental picture I get is of this amazing person who is changing the world through brilliant innovative solutions to humanity’s oldest problems. And the solutions are usually breathtakingly beautiful, extremely simple and perfectly functional. 

Said person is also a radical go-getter, afraid of nothing and no-one, content to forego comfort and luxury in pursuit of the joy of creating, unable to be tied down by the security of such mundane things as a regular job. And this person is not only raking in loads of cash but also at perfect peace with themselves as they are doing that for which they were created.

Then I look at me.

Me with my bachelor’s degree in a profession as mainstream as they come, working a 9 to 5 job, Monday to Friday. Me with a well set-up professional profile on LinkedIn and academic publications to my name. 

I do have my occasional dabblings in music, fine art and writing (I have published a book and have a rather inactive blog) but does that qualify me as a Creative? My List on Netflix is full of reality competitions in art, music, creativity generally, and my YouTube subscriptions are to organisational, interior decorating and DIY craft channels but does that earn me the name?

Maybe I am a Creative in disguise or denial, still boxed in by societal expectations and comfortable in the "security" of the 9-5? Maybe I am like that hero in the movies living the ordinary life until some traveling mage lets them know they are the Hope that their world has been waiting for? 

Am I A Creative?

#Day1

#WinterABC2021

#WhoAmI?

#FindingMe

PS: I have not blogged in over a year and hope to use this #WinterABC2021 to revive this site :)