Green pancakes anyone?? & creative musings...

March 17, 2006

This is as much green as Celine owns for St. Patty's Day Spring's almost here!

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day the kids and I made green pancakes for lunch. They looked a little strange but tasted normal. We dressed in green today also. Laurent for once was at a distinct advantage in the wardrobe department. He has a lot more green clothing items than the girls whose drawers are full of pink & purple. Celine was able to find a purple dress with green stitching. Brienne started off wearing purple with teal green foliage but has since changed 3 or 4 times. I think she's now in dirty pants from yesterday and a dress up top.

Spring is slowly coming here in Maine and it's lifted my spirits immensely. Actually I've been feeling better since the beginning of March, not so stuck in cabin fever mode. It helps having plans to go out and do things. The aquarium last weekend, the dance festival this weekend, working at the nursery and the gala dance next weekend. The kids and I are hoping to go watch maple sugaring soon. You can't really plan that in advance, just call that morning and see if they're boiling sap. Today they weren't so we'll try next week.

Yesterday I had the privilege of hearing author Monica Wood speak on "How to Live a Creative Life". Wow, very inspiring and encouraging. I don't know if it's turning 30 or the stage of life I'm in (day to day mothering/homeschooling) but I am experiencing a yearning to express myself more creatively. I'm not sure how to meet this need presently. I feel vulnerable when I creatively express myself through mediums such as photography or music/worship. I want to gain more confidence as well as skill. Perhaps the confidence comes with more skill? So many avenues I want to pursue - music, dance, visual arts - specifically photography and home "decor" (which I see as a creative process), gardening, perhaps writing. Whew... in order to excel at anything I know you need to focus. I'm not very good at focusing. I'm also limited on personal time to develop these desires. That's not bad necessarily - that's God's plan for my life right now - to raise my children. So these pursuits need to be in conjunction with that role, not separate from.

I see this desire expressing itself even my appearance. For years I haven't particularly cared much about what I wore or how I looked. I mean I wasn't a slob and part of that was simply lack of funds. But now I want the way I dress to reflect who I am - like what does that even mean? So I'm very pleased about my new wardrobe finds at Beans this winter because my closet is full of bright colors - greens, orange, pinks, blue - lighter, lively colors that feel more me than the reds, grays, blacks & dark blues that previously made up my wardrobe.

I don't know what this is all about. Except to say I want to be more intentional about developing my creative gifts and talents. Stay tuned....