“Oh I’m just not the creative ty-“
Wrong, all humans are inherently creative in some way when their needs are met and they are given the leisure time to pursue hobbies. It came free with your being a social species wired by evolution to love doing stuff with your hands. Don’t define art through a consumerist lens where it’s only worth existing if it’s something someone would buy. Connect with your inner monkey, create to create and let it just be.
So I'm washing a blanket. It is a weighted blanket so it cannot go in the ancient washing machine (can I just call that a washine? Is that allowed?). But it NEEDS to be washed. So I put it in the tub and filled it with hot water and detergent and got to scrubbing.
And I'm sat there beside this tub of hot water and suds and cloth, hands and forearms red from the heat of the water and the friction of the washing, sweat dripping into the mix off my forehead, and the thought wanders through my brain that this has been done, like this, for almost all of human history. Maybe it was a metal tub, or a wooden one, or a river or lake shore, but through all of our time here together we have done this thing in this way.
I cherish these moments so dearly. Washing and wringing and hanging. Kneading bread. Sweeping the floor. Putting things in baskets. Owning a bag with a strap or two for carrying things that need carrying. Building a fire. Roasting meat. These things are eternal for us and we have always done them. When I do these things it's like....it's not just me. It's everyone.
You may not be here but you did this thing. Your hands knew these motions. Your heart beat like mine, and I feel you there. I feel you here with me. Do you feel me too?
Individualism is a lie. Everything I am and everything I do was built by other people, and I have helped build others. You are with me and I am with you and there is so much love in that.
Life has existed on earth for 3.7 billion years and flowers have existed for about 130 million years. That means flowering plants have only existed for 3% of the time that there’s been life on earth. And you just so happen to be alive at the same time as flowers! How lucky are you! Appreciate some flowers today!
i cannot emphasise enough how much you need to create something. anything. it doesn't matter if you suck. you don't need to monetise it, or make it your career. you can restart an old hobby; you can start from scratch. it doesn't matter. you just need to hold something and be able to say "i did that". baking, drawing, painting, writing, coding, crafts, whatever. make something ! you cannot have all your hobbies be a form of consumption. it's fun, it's great in its own right. but the single best action to make yourself feel better, to calm your mind, to gain self esteem, is to Create
Your love for creating came free with being a species that survived via creating tools and thinking abstractly. It’s wired into your biology to make you feel better.
When I am on my couch crocheting 225 granny squares to make a blanket and my partner is next to me coding a video game he is making for hours at a time I remember we are really no different than our ancestors. Just funny monkeys in love with using tools and making stuff! Using our hands! Just like our ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago, I’m just like them fr.
I want to apologize to the Earth for all the beautiful sunrises and sunsets I didn’t give her credit for because I was attributing it to god. You did that, queen!
I recently saw someone explaining that instead of viewing frustrating behavior as “attention seeking behavior” we should view it as “connection seeking behavior” and honestly it’s changed the way I’ve seen other people and the things they do.
