Christa, Day 45: I Can Still Feel a Little Cool

Poke around the blogging world, and you'll see the homemaking is IN. Hipsters are out there in whatever cities are now deemed super cool having fun creating their own definition of adult and immersing themselves in old school pursuits that twenty years ago would have been the purview of grannies. And thank goodness for that since yours truly hasn't written a short story or painted a proper picture for years now.

Back in the day when I was a young adult (as opposed to the old adult I am now) writing serious fiction and painting serious pictures were the hip things to do. Now it's cupcakes and knitting and sewing tutus and doing stuff with craft paper, which is a darn good thing because it means I still feel at least a little cool. You know, because that's all the creative energy I can muster up these days.

Bringing me neatly to today's voluntary simplicity idea:

Find a creative outlet for self-expression. Whether that’s writing, poetry, painting, drawing, creating movies, designing websites, dance, skateboarding, whatever. We have a need for self-expression, and finding a way to do that makes your life much more fulfilling. Allow this to replace much of the busy-work you’re eliminating from your life.

The verdict? Done-ish. I do indeed have some number of creative outlets for self-expression. Many of which are DIY crafts for moms. Like so:




And really, the fact that most of what I make involves pursuits that have traditionally fallen into the realm of woman's work is not a problem for me. There's no logical reason that painting a picture on a canvas should be any more valuable than painting a chair. Only one of which you can sit on, I'd like to add.

Yet it has struck me as sort of odd that I've just sort of slipped into creative pursuits that revolve around house, home, and family whereas once upon a time my creative pursuits most definitely were not associated directly with those realms. I'm sure some of the more militant feminists would have a field day with it all. The fact is, though, that DIY crafts for moms type projects are good for those with:

• Limited time (like I tried to comment on Julia's Day 45 post, any creative pursuit I want to engage in has to fit into the hours between 9 and 11 p.m.)
• Children who might want to enjoy the fruits of one's labors
• A house or apartment that they'd rather look a certain way
• A limited budget because, hey, craft paper and Mod Podge are pretty cheap

And there you have it... my creative outlet. It's not cool, except right now it's kind of cool. Making cupcakes, sewing stuff, and takin' names. That's me, not going postal.