Thursday, January 24, 2008

Make Something Already + A Call to Action (For Me)

Image via Pia Jane Bijkerk

I have been meaning to post something about Pia Jane's brilliant collaborative art project, my heart wanders, for a while but somehow keep getting sidetracked.

"my heart wanders: a collection of subtle hearts in special spaces will be a collective book project where ANYONE can enter a work. You do not have to be a professional photographer or artist, just have an eye for beauty (and a heart too!)... With the ultimate goal to publish a beautiful hand held book, the concept is based on our favourite things: design, interiors, nature, love, lifestyle and beauty. It will be a collection of subtle hearts from all over the world." -- Pia Jane Bijkerk

Image via Pia Jane Bijkerk

This really couldn't have come at a better time, as it might be just the thing to push me out of the creative slump I seem to have been stuck in for the past couple of years.

Don't get me wrong, I'm plenty inspired, what with the amazing amount creative energy oozing from the countless blogs I've become addicted to. An unfortunate side-effect though is that I'm becoming more an observer of creativity than someone who is actually making something.

Honestly I'm probably slightly intimidated by your creative prowess; a glimpse of say one of Lynne or Melissa's amazing frocks followed by a peek of Ali's intensely lovely photographs or one of my friend Jane's beautiful knitted scarves is enough to send me into a state of stunned creative inactivity. Weird I know, but sadly true...

But then I read this quote by Bertrand Russell and thought, well, exactly.

"It is far better to do something badly yourself than to watch someone else doing it well"

This is also what partly prompted resolution #3 to make something, and similar to the no-buy month I'm currently in the midst of, I set a specific challenge to help me actually achieve the goal. In this case it's to make something every single week this year. It might just be a lovely meal or a school project with Audrey; it doesn't have to be elaborate or impressive, rather it's just intended to get me back into the groove and to spark that thing that seems a little dormant right now.

So Pia Jane's project is serendipitous really, as it's prompting me to think a little more creatively each day. You should join in too -- whether you're in a slump or not...