An Ounce of Creativity
Three posts in three days - wow, there must be something wrong with me! ;)
As I was on my way to work this morning, I briefly recalled my childhood (I'm not sure why, but I did) and realized that back then, I thought I was adopted if only because I never got an ounce of creativity in my bones. My mom was the artist in the family. She drew very well, she can make anything with her hands - from sewing, to crochet, to any kind of craft you can think of. My brother got the creative genes in our family. Even at an early age, he would be able to whip off a good drawing in the blink of an eye. His notebooks in school do not have lessons on them, but they did have very beautiful drawings! It just shows how much he doodles in class, to his teachers' dismay, LOL. He is both left and right handed. I admired him for that because he had what I craved for - creativity.
During school, I would always ace my Home Education projects (and my projects have always been chosen for exhibits) not because I was good, but because my mom made them herself. I make such rotten artworks that I think my mom couldn't bear to think I was her daughter!
As I left for the US, I realized how sad life away from family can be. I have seen some friends go through bouts of crying and feeling down. To overcome that feeling, I had to be busy - so I read book after book. Then I took classes. Then I got into crafts - from sewing, to cake decorating, to knitting, to scrapbooking and then photography. I found my niche in scrapbooking and photography. I enjoyed the process so much that I spend late nights when the kids are asleep reading on photography and scrapbooking, editing photos, scrapbooking, watching video tutorials on Photoshop Elements and scrapbooking techniques and digital scrapbooking.
I now realize that there are those born with the creative genes in their system, and there are those who develop said genes. I belong to the latter. I don't create over-the-top layout pages nor award winning photos - far from it actually. I scrapbook because I need to tell our story, to make sure memories will not be lost forever, and because I owe my children their life stories. I take photos because it gives a glimpse into our lives - however mundane it is. I take lots of photos because I only have a handful of childhood photos - most were either lost in the move or drowned in the flood. I find that unfortunate because I was a cute kid (ehem - need to feed my ego from time to time).
I take photos and I scrapbook because I am the family's life artist and nobody knows our story better than me.
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