Stop Hiding: Your Gifts are Meant to be Shared

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Stop Hiding: Your Gifts are Meant to be Shared

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Have you seen this commercial from Apple? I absolutely love everything about it. It inspires me, challenges me, and even makes me cry a little.

The World Needs Your Voice

The beginning of the commercial shows a young woman making various creations and each time she hides them from those around her. She is extremely critical of her own work, but her adorable dog recognizes her talent. He opens their window and all of her hidden papers fly out into the world where people below begin to scoop them up. She frantically runs down to the street and tries to recover her scattered secrets. As people begin looking at the papers, smiles and joy spread across their faces and they share her creation with others. The original young woman begins to recognize that what she created is bringing happiness to everyone around her!

You may not even realize it, but the world needs your voice. The world needs your individual talents and perspective. It’s easy to believe the lie that what you have to share isn’t important or good enough. I felt that way for a really long time. I thought that creativity was for other people, not simple moms in suburbia. Because of your own life experiences and one-of-a-kind personality you have something unique to say, create, and share.

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Grandma Moses

Everyone has heard of the folk artist, Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as Grandma Moses. But did you know that she didn’t begin painting until she was in her 70s! She is quoted as saying that she wanted “to keep busy and out of mischief” after her husband had passed away. Grandma Moses had been creative throughout her entire life but her early adult years were spent raising children and working on their family farm. Although she had always been creative, it wasn’t until her arthritis had progressed so much that she was no longer able to embroider, which was something she enjoyed. Her sister recommended that painting might be easier on her joints and history was made! She was a prolific artist and created over 1,500 paintings. Her canvas titled Sugaring Off sold for 1.2 million dollars in 2006! Her work is displayed in museums across the country and most Americans would recognize her folksy work.

Imagine if Grandma Moses had considered herself too old to try something new. Imagine if she had let her lack of formal education stop her creativity. Thankfully for all of us she didn’t let little things like that get in the way of expressing herself through art. When looking at a painting by Grandma Moses you get a sense of who she was, what was important to her, and what she wanted to tell the world. Her art brings to mind simpler times from days gone by. They feel nostalgic and recall an uncomplicated time when modern machinery wasn’t yet invented and communities were full of honest, hardworking folks.

I believe that each one of us has a story to tell through our own creativity. I have chosen to make amigurumi and just like Grandma Moses I have no formal education and I didn’t start crocheting until I was in my mid forties.  I am certainly not comparing my work to Grandma Moses, but I wouldn’t be surprised if our motivations were exactly the same. I don’t know this for sure but I would bet that Grandma Moses didn’t paint just so she could make a few bucks. I wouldn’t be surprised that even if she had never made a single dollar that she would have continued painting for herself, her family, and her friends. I believe that is true for most of us crocheters as well.

(You may want to read more about being creative here: Do it Scared…Explore Your Creativity)

For me, making amigurumi is more than just turning yarn into a stuffed toy. It’s about bringing joy and happiness to a troubled world. It’s about bringing back those feelings of being an innocent child and enjoying a whimsical moment. It’s about doing something with my hands that hopefully makes this world a tiny bit better for someone else.

Your motivations for creating may be different than mine but each of us has a voice and the world needs to hear it. Why do you crochet? Why do you create? Do you share your work or are you more like the young woman in the commercial? Please share your thoughts with me!

If you enjoyed this blog post you may be interested in this post about how my blog name is more about why I crochet than anything else: Why Le Petit Saint Crochet Isn’t Just my Business Name, but a Piece of my Heart as Well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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8 Comments

  1. Very thought provoking! I love the idea, and believe, that we all have our own creativity. We just have to embrace it, and be confident enough to share it.

  2. Thank you very much to post this video and share your story too. I believe it’s not too late to dream, to do something new , to change things in our life . To knew others people around the world . Sometimes it’s a little bit difficult to go out of our box that we can create, but It’s wonderful to try. I wish you have a gorgeous 2019.

  3. Your words on this subject are inspiring. I have many creative interests like crochet, soap making, herbs and weaving. I’m like the lady in the commercial. I think that because there are so many people with the same interests, there isn’t anything unique that I can contribute to make it “mine.” Thank you for your post which helps me look at this differently.

    1. I used to feel the very same way, Ann! I thought that because I am just a maker and not a designer that I didn’t have anything new to add to the conversation. But I’ve slowly come to the realization that I do (we all) have something to contribute because we are each completely unique and have a voice/talents that are different from every other person on the planet! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and I’m glad my little post helped a little! 😘