Insomnia of a Creative Addict

Note: Written at 2 am this morning..in my stupor, I forgot to post!.. Do you ever have so many creative ideas running through your brain that they keep you up at night? Thus is the insomnia of a creative addict, and it has descended upon me tonight. I’ve been laying there in bed thinking about how I’d like to revamp my website, how I can rework current projects to use for other secondary ideas, how I can change up my product pictures, how I’d sure like to sew some fun little dresses for the girlies, and most importantly, how I can find the time to carry out all the new ideas I’ve been dreaming up…

Mixed media, photography, jewelry design, 2-D art, 3-D art, fiber and textile arts, what have you... At one time or another, I have tried or wanted to try every bit of it. Sometimes that drive to create is so strong that it truly does keep me up at night. I read through the profiles and stories of the women over there on Creative Construction and I wonder how they manage to do it all without losing just a little bit of their sanity. Hmm…maybe that’s the key! You do have to lose a little bit of your sanity to do it all! I know many of my friends would agree I lost mine a long time ago.

At times, I’m envious of stay-at-home moms, whether they work from home as Mom or in another field on top of being Mom. I’d like to think I’d have a little more time to create if I were in their shoes, at least while the kids are in school, yet something tells me those of you in that situation might disagree. So maybe whether we work inside the home or out, we all face the same challenges, just in a different form?

So do you make a change? How do you make a change? I’ve been thinking about it, just don’t know quite how to go about it. Sometimes it seems we get trapped in our own little situations and can’t figure out a way to get out. That’s how I’ve been feeling lately. Given the time, I think I could make a go of my creative endeavors full time, whatever form those creative endeavors may take. Yet there is a mortgage to pay and kids to raise, so for now the idea of me quitting my day job scares the heebie-da-jeebies out of me, not to mention my DH (yes, that’s a technical term, heebie-da-jeebies; either that or I've been watching too much Madagascar with the girls...“I like to move it, move it; you like to move it, move it; we like to move it, move it....Move it!” sorry, it’s 2am...). I’ve been trying to make the switch to teaching full time, which would give me much more time, yet with the changes and new programs being added at the College, that just might require a doctorate degree before too long. I’ve given quite a bit of thought to that whole going back to school thing, and I’ve realized that if I went back to school, it probably wouldn’t be to earn a doctorate in English or Higher Education. You know what I’d love to pursue instead? A master’s degree in Art Therapy. A good friend of mine and I have long had an idea in our heads about a program combining art therapy, music therapy and pet therapy. She’s a counselor, collage artist, and dog lover; I’m an I’ll-try-anything-once artist, musician and dog lover with a strong public relations background. Just dreaming here, but haven’t big things come from little dreams?

What are your dreams and what are you doing to reach them? Tell me your secret dreams, and maybe you’ll give me a kick in the pants to chase mine. Or maybe you’re already living your dream. How’d you get there? Do tell! Inspire the rest of us! In the meantime I’m going to try to get some sleep…while I think about designing a new journal cover…and that cute little polka-dotted peasant dress…and that mixed media piece featuring Isabelle (hopefully you will see this picture again in another form!)…and, oh yes, I guess I do need to get some new jewelry designs made since I have four major shows coming up this fall…and…oh, what the heck! Who needs sleep, right!? I’ll just hop in my Magic Bus and go get some Red Bull…

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