I am almost finished reading a book about creativity. I discovered it on my office bookshelf one day, and swiped it. (I will return it.) It’s a book filled with strategies to connect with your creativity, and release those great ideas that are bottled up inside you. Riddled with positive thinking, the author seems like one of those overly perky people you’d like to strangle before you’ve had your first cup of coffee. However, that perkiness works with the book, and he delivers some great ideas. From traveling to designing a creative space to playing to aromatherapy, there are tons of ways to get out of your rut and toss a creative spark onto the fire (or lack of) of your life.

I was drawn to this book because I have recently felt creatively dead.  I believe myself to be a creative person. Poetry, songwriting, scrapbooking, and photography have all been creative mediums in my life. In recent months though, I felt a little uninspired. I like to strive to do something creative each day, even if it’s just writing half a page in my journal. I went through a rut where there didn’t seem to be any creative fruits.

Since reading this book, I have found different creative outlets, and have tried things I didn’t think I’d ever try. Drew and I are slowly putting artwork on our walls. One of our spare bedrooms is a music room/chapel, and much of our decorations are music related. I was paging through a Michael’s Crafts ad one day and noticed canvas on sale. I had never tried real painting before, but as I stared at that ad, I had an idea in my head that I wanted to paint. We bought the canvas, paint, and brushes, and I tried my hand at painting. I was pleasantly surprised at the finished product. They are now hanging proudly on my wall.

I have tried other ideas that aren’t displayed quite so proudly. On Saturday night, I sat down with a glue stick, scissors, and a Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and hacked it up. I made a collage of “perk-ups,” things that make me smile, colors I like, or things that caught my eye. As cheesy as it seems, I stuck it on the fridge.

I have one other creative spurt that I wanted to share. A couple of months ago at my job, I had the privilege of helping to throw a 100 year old a birthday party. She is an amazing woman, who is in incredible mental and physical shape for her age. We had the newspaper and a news channel there. She had a great day.

As I was cleaning up, I gathered the many balloons we had inflated. I had a vision of capturing a photograph of her among all the balloons. I told my boss, who thought it was a great idea, and helped me stage it. At first she stood next to them, draping her arms through the strings. It was cute, but not quite what I envisioned.

My boss continued to stage it, and then asked her to dive through the balloons. I began to rapid fire shots, and captured the image I had in my head.

I love the smile on her face, wrapped in all the colors of the balloons. Isn’t she cute?

I am thankful to have found many different creative mediums. Without them, I think I might go crazy.