Making Space for Your Creativity
"In creating, the only hard thing's to begin…"
- James Russell Lowell
I enjoy making things, and I have always been interested in the creative process. I find it fascinating how people nurture and make space for creativity in their lives: philosophically; time-wise; and by finding a location where they can create.
Toronto Public Library provides creative space for you with their Digital Innovation Hubs, which are workspaces with free access to technology and training, 3D design and printing, classes and more. At the Toronto Reference Library, the Asquith Press is a book printing service that lets you design and print perfect bound bookstore quality paperback books at a low price. There are also Pop-Up Learning Labs, which travel to different branches to bring new and emerging technology to your community through staff-led programs and classes.
More creative space is provided at many library branches for hobbies, crafts and games programs. If you like to create independently, all you need is your Toronto Public Library card to access lynda.com for video tutorial courses on computer skills, graphic design, multimedia, photography and more.
It is very motivating for me to look at outstanding examples of art and craft. With the Sun Life Financial Museum + Arts Pass, you and your family can explore, for free, the best of Toronto's arts and cultural treasures, including the Royal Ontario Museum. On June 25, 2016, a special exhibition will be opening at the museum by one of the world's foremost glass artists, Dale Chihuly.
A dedicated space for your creative pursuits is ideal. This space might be a separate building, a studio or a corner of a room. I think it is energizing just to imagine all of the creative people working in these beautiful spaces!
I am always interested in learning about creative people. While each one differs in their creative process, the unifying thread between them is their curiosity, a driving force for creativity.
These inspiring and instructive titles encourage your creativity, and show you ways to express it: on your own; at work; or with your family.
Beginning is indeed hard, but it is essential to creativity, and it may even take you on the way to presenting your creations to the outside world! There are even spaces to meet and work at your local library branch, to start or grow your small business.
4 thoughts on “Making Space for Your Creativity”
I would love a shed of my own, to paraphrase Virginia Woolf. I think springtime gives us an energy boost, which we can direct towards creative projects, if we feel inspired. Thanks for this blog post — I’m sure it will provide inspiration for the creatively inclined, and even those who don’t think they are creative. I heard a very inspiring interview with Elizabeth Gilbert (author of “Big Magic”). She believes we are all creative. I don’t know if you’ll agree with this, but she thinks the creative urge can’turn destructive if you ignore it.
She was interviewed on CBC radio’s program Q:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/q/schedule-for-wednesday-september-30-2015-1.3249922/elizabeth-gilbert-on-the-perils-of-ignoring-your-creative-self-1.3249938
You are welcome, Maureen. I hope you get your shed! I do believe we are all creative, and thank you for the Elizabeth Gilbert interview link – I am looking forward to listening to it.
Hmmm. Has anyone else noticed the similarities in the covers of Big Magic and Let the Elephants Run? Too close for comfort. Elephants is Canadian, published by smallish house Anansi on Mar. 7, 2015. Then on Sept. 22, 2015, Riverhead Books (a division of giant Penguin) released Big Magic.
Kind of like when that Whitney Houston song (The Greatest Love of All, composed by Michael Masser) had a few bars almost identical to some in Gord Lightfoot’s If You Could Read My Mind. Masser probably didn’t think anyone in the States/beyond would know Lightfoot’s song (typical American myopia/narcissism), and now Penguin’s design dept. thought a little theft from Anansi would go unnoticed.
Ironic that a book on creativity can’t have some originality for its jacket design, no?
You are right, K, the covers are quite similar, although I have noticed that abstract art is featured fairly frequently on the covers of books about creativity.