Practical Application(s)

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies strength. Whoever loves much can accomplish much, and what is done with love is well done.” (Vincent Van Gogh)

All right, I’ll admit it….I love to do a great many things. Every once in a while, creative distractions lead to something else. Which leads to something else. And then to something else. If I’m not careful, I get scattered in SO many directions, I face the possibility that nothing could get accomplished!

I’ve been like this for as long as I remember. Yes, I’ve done research over the years into why this happens and when I discovered it was one of the natural characteristics of Creative People, I breathed a sigh of relief. Ah, that explains it, I thought. There are others who do that, too.

The practical applications for all this is that I can do a lot of useful things. In my quest to learn about Homesteading and Appalachian homecrafts, I’ve taught myself how to repair chairs. I have a fondness for straight backed chairs. (I have no idea why this is so.) On junkets to flea markets or antique shops, I’m drawn to them like a magnet. My latest project has been to repair the bottoms of a variety of chairs using a paper rush as well as an older handmade footstool using seagrass for the seat. When I got the footstool twenty-something years ago, it was woven with cornhusks which had been twisted and woven for the seat. I talked with the craftsman about his work and he shared a few tips.

It’s the end of May now and garden is mostly planted, except for a few things I wanted to start by seed. I’ll transplant those when they get a bit larger, too.
I classify all of this as “research” and move on. I know it will give authenticity to my characters as I work on (a variety of) writing projects.

Happy Creating!