Understanding Creative Stress Relief
The first thing to recognize in Creative Stress Relief
is the difference between
good stress and bad stress
Whether on the job or in our social lives, bad stress comes from feelings of frustration, fear of impending failure, nagging lack of promise, and the pressure of potential loss. Bad stress pulls us down and damages our "'health and well being'" as surely as being run over by a speeding truck!
Good stress is welcome ---- I prefer to call it "passion for the task" --- that wonderful "high" that comes from large doses of enthusiasm for a project that offers great promise.
Discovering your own creativity and giving yourself permission to pursue it --- can turn bad stress into good stress!
Sometimes when we feel ourselves being weighed down by bad stress we just need to give ourselves permission to take a nap. Exhaustion is it's own harbinger of bad stress. Even creativity won't help if you're too tired to think.
Get some rest, and then come back. Are you ready to SMELL THE ROSES? While Quilting is the subject of this website, you're not limited. Many of our readers are just as interested in other forms of creativity that range from Scrapbooking to Oil Painting to Gourmet Cooking and Jewelry Making. It doesn't matter what avenue YOUR crativity wants to follow. Just turn it loose. If you find yourself in something other than quilting, send me an email to tell me about it. Creativity is the goal. I'd love to hear from you about anything that makes your life better.
In Quilting, everyone has their personal trigger points that get them started. For me it was attending a quilt show put on by the local group. It was a way to see many possibilities, many styles, and to study many methods. For me, it lit the fire of creativity that has been burning ever since.
If there are no shows available when you're in the mood, try visiting local quilt shops. Use the Google Search box at the top-left of this page to enter: "quilt shops in *your city*" to search for one close to you. Also search on "quilt guild in *your city* -- you may be pleasantly surprised at what a warm and friendly group of people you'll meet at a quilt guild meeting.
Quilting magazines are great triggers because they bring you something new each issue. You don't have to make everything; sometimes just seeing what someone else has done can trigger some new ideas that are even more rewarding for you. Watch for The Great Pirate Quilt Adventure in a future issue. It started with a Fons & Porter TV Show that I happened to catch on accident, and their kit called "Monsters In My Closet".
TV shows are harder to find than magazines, but worth looking for. I've found the most choices on PBS, naturally. I've also found some on the Internet, and for specific instruction on one technique or another the selections are numerous. Can't say they do much for generating a spark of creativity. Most are built to show you how to do something you already know you want.
Websites to stimulate your creativity can be valuable, though. Any time, any day of the week, you can browse the Resources pages in WeLoveToQuilt.com -- and let your personal creativity wander around until something clicks for you. Websites lack the warmth of touchy-feely fabric, but it's pretty great to visit the displays of a dozen or more online quilt shops in your jammies.
