Creativity in the Kitchen

     

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the November 6 posting of the IWSG are Diedre Knight, Lisa Buie Collard , Kim Lajevardi, and JQ Rose!

November 6 question - What creative activity do you engage in when you're not writing?

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Most of my creative energy goes into my writing. It's where my imagination plays best--making up stories and romping about with imaginary friends in the wordscape. 

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I've been told often enough that I'm a creative person--usually by someone who is trying to find a nicer way to say that I'm weird or strange. Even I can tell that my brain doesn't work like other people's brains. 

But it's really only stories, poems, novels, etc. that I create. 

I don't paint or dance or write music, for example. I don't make fiber art, origami, or jewelry. I don't do woodwork, pottery, or collages. I might show a little creativity in my house design choices, and DIY projects, but those don't feel original to me in the same way. 

I have acted and sung in the past, and played a couple of musical instruments, but I don't pursue any of those activities with regularity right now. I'd like to get back into the playing the piano though. It's challenging with my arthritis, but it brings me joy. 

So I guess the closest I come to having another creative outlet in my life is in the kitchen. Sure, I'm following recipes in there (at least the first time I make something), but I'm definitely also creating something--something yummy!

I'm especially fond of baking, though I also take pleasure in making new dishes for dinner. I'm happiest if a new recipe requires me to try something I've never done before--a new technique, ingredient, or kitchen gadget! 

Treats from my kitchen in the past few months. 

How about you? What are your creative outlets? Are there any you wish you made more time for? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Can I quote you on that? An open book blog hop post

  

Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

Do you have any favorite quotes about writing? 
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I love reading about writing. It's always interesting to me to learn about what processes other writers follow, especially if I admire their work. So, there are a BUNCH of great quotes about writing rattling around in my brain, but I'll stick to just two of them for this post: 

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Toni Morrison wrote some of my favorite books. Beloved broke my heart and scared me at the same time. I also loved The Bluest Eye and Sula. But you know what? She never wrote about Menopausal Superheroes and I wanted to read that, so I took her advice and I wrote it. At the most basic level, this is why I write what I write: I am my own intended audience. I'm writing what I want to read. 

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EM Forster might be best known for the opulent Merchant Ivory films made of his books: Howard's End, A Room With a View, A Passage to India and the like. They are fascinating for the way they capture a moment in time, and encapsulate class issues and explore humanistic themes. 

I don't remember where I first ran across this quote from him, but when I read it, it was like lightning in my brain. "Yes! Just like that!" I thought. Story is my major coping and processing mechanism in life. Whatever I'm going through or thinking about, writing is going to be part of how I pull myself through and get to the other side of it. This quote captures that feeling for me of needing that step back, that opportunity to listen to the still, small voice within, and dialogue with my own subconscious on the page in order to clarify my thinking and understand my heart's desires. 

So there are two of my favorites. What quotes have you run across that speak to your ideas about creativity? I'd love to hear about them in the comments! 

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