There are many things I love and live for in this life: God, family, friends, my dog, lattes, bookstores, indie music, vintage knick-knacks and ephemera, and handmade things top the list. But how do I define myself? First, I am a child of God. Then, I am a wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, friend. Lastly, I am a creative.
Three overall loves have always defined me. In fact, I can’t even tell you when they found me—by influence of nature or nurture—or if I found them on my own first. These three loves are words, style, and curiosity, and together they form my version of creativity.
Words
Words draw you in, create worlds, explore concepts, document events, and make you think. They surprise. They focus. They ignite. They inspire. I began exploring words early on, and I moved in swift succession from being read picture books and poetry by my parents to dictating (horribly amateurish) poetry to my mother, reading copious amounts of fiction, eventually writing novels of my own, journaling, and then even meeting and falling in love with my husband through the power of words through chats and emails.
Style
Style is the arrangement of form and color and texture or “feeling” of things. It appeals to our senses. It could be an article of clothing, a feeling, a tableau, or a moment in time captured by the purest forms of nature. It just … is. My personal sense of style tends toward a heavy use of white space, splashes of life-breathing color, and a delight in the unexpected; I play with it to design things, create outfits, and arrange items in my home or décor at a party. I make things with it.
Curiosity
Curiosity searches for meaning and finds it in a dewdrop on a blade of grass or in the arches of a great cathedral. It devours information, digests it, and nourishes the body and soul with it. Curiosity creates a spark that only dies when a question has been answered in full. Curiosity is the child perpetually asking “why?” It is the scientist asking “how?” It is the explorer asking “where?” It is the internal clock asking “when?” It is the journalist asking “to what extent?” And like a kitten, it pounces, catching the answer and playing with it until the heart and mind are satisfied. I can’t imagine a life spent without curiosity. I’ve followed its whims my whole life. It has led me to new friends, hobbies, ideas, knowledge, and passions.