Living Life Deliberately

Today is one of those days where I feel it. That twitch in the back of my brain, the wiggly fingers, the inability to focus. One of those days where I long to be crafty. I want to lock myself away and revel in the joys of yarn and fabric, find some paint and a brush, play with photos and paper. No real focus in mind - no end project.

Unfortunately, this is also one of those days when that just isn't in the cards. I stayed home from work with a fevery-pukey babe and active 3 year old. I thank God for the Ergo - it's the only reason I can be here at all today. There are blanket forts to be built, popcorn snacks to be made, and cuddling to be done. And I'm glad to be able to do it (in no small part due to working for an employer that provides paid sick/family illness days - but that's a tangent I'll tackle another day).

But still.....

These days when I really want to make something are coming less often than they used to - and I have to believe that it is due to how rare it is for those itches to actually get to be scratched. You know - the whole creativity breeds creativity thing. It's like a muscle that needs to be exercised. And my muscles are starting to atrophy.

One of my goals for this year is to be better at taking advantage of the small moments of time. Instead of waiting for the endless hours of quiet to appear, I need to seize the 10 minutes here and the 15 minutes there. I need to move my lazy behind to the sewing machine rather than the couch when both boys crash for the night. Instead of reading blogs about other people's creativity, I need to explore my own. And keeping a small knitting project in my purse wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

It's that word again - cultivate. I need to cultivate my creative spirit. I need to nurture that twitch in my brain.

Maybe CSI tonight will help me get a few more stripes done on the pillow I've just cast on. And if that's all the time i get today, then it sure is better than nothing.