Welcoming Chaos into Your Creativity — and Life
I am a weaver and writer fortunate enough to have a great space for the constant leaping off into the creative abyss.
I love my space, my studio, because it is over our garage so it is on a level with the trees that surround us. And it has windows on three sides-north, east, and south-that let in lots of light. The only wall with no windows is covered with light of another kind, my cones of yarn. And I mean covered-cones line up from top to bottom, from left to right, from white to yellow to orange on through the color wheel to black.
It is my palette from which I choose my colors for “painting” my rayon chenille throws and shawls and scarves and loose jackets.
This montage of color is wonderful except for one thing. I have too many cones for the wall. Cones are piled on the floor in a tumble, one on top of the other - some buried so I can’t even see what colors I have. I try to keep them organized, picked up and cleaned up but, honestly, when my back is turned, those cones are like rabbits, reproducing and tumbling about until once again the area looks like Dorothy’s tornado just whirled through throwing them left and right.
Creative ideas and projects can be like those cones. Just when we think we have them organized and going in the direction we want, we turn our backs momentarily only to turn around again and discover they have multiplied, scrambled, and otherwise escaped our control.
Life is like this, too. As much as we may desire order, control, and direction, Chaos, with her friends, Change and Unexpected, are frequent visitors. Our only choice is how to treat them once they arrive because although we may want to slam the door in their faces, not only is it rude but somehow they always manage to get a foot in first!
Over the years, I have learned to accept that chaos is part of my process, so I let it visit for a time, while I step over cones (occasionally tripping!), dig under them, search for a missing color. I live and work within the chaos until I have moved through one or several projects. Then, suddenly like a switch turned on, I know I need to create order again before I can create or design anything else. Soon, once again, I am restacking, remounting, re-arranging cones of Persimmon, Lipstick Red, Regency Purple, and Seabreeze, knowing that the minute I turn my back Chaos will return.
Perhaps my time would be better spent teaching those cones to click their heels and say, “There is no place like home…there is no place like home…”
January 14th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
What a great way to think of those cones of yarn. I’ve had the privilege of seeing your workspace and it’s inspiring! I wonder–would it really be as creative, juice flowing and motivating if it wasd always neatened up? Hmmm?
Great work on the blog. The info will help many.
January 15th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
There will always be change. But it’s up to us what to do with it.
And sometimes, that’s the hardest part: remembering that change is not there to beat us down or drive us crazy. It’s simply a second chance to make the ordinary, extraordinary.