At 70 years old, Pete Staylor continues his mission to raise funds and awareness for arthritis research, proving that age is no barrier to making a difference.
Do you need a low stress way to include seven minutes of creative contemplation into your week? Consider this your helpful nudge towards a slightly more creative life. If it helps, come back every week for a quick hit of creative contemplation. Each week I’ll share a new nudge. It will include a Thing (T), a Place (P), and a Sense(S) for your focus, a TPS creative nudge.
Last week, we tapped into that mysterious sense of intuition – often described as “a gut feeling”. Did using intuition help you live a bit more creatively and feel connected to the people and activities you love? From thought-free photography to writing without ceasing, I hope a few minutes of creative expression was a pleasurable part of your day.
For this week’s creative nudge, let’s use a space where we cast away items we don’t want to deal with. I’m talking about junk drawers! And those junk boxes, purses, closets, and trunks. Those places for stuff we don’t need today but can’t give away. Yes, we all store a lot of strange things in those spaces. Luckily, we can rescue this treasure from idle frustration for several minutes of creative inspiration.
The sight that greets you might be an array of miscellaneous items—the tangle of old keys, pens, rubber bands, forgotten notes, and trinkets; old playbills, credit card statements, to-do lists, and business cards; all of them shout, story time!
Poke around and make a few piles if that is what it takes. A chaotic space now becomes a canvas for your creativity. Choose one or more objects – touch them, see them, remember them – then clear a space that gives you plenty of room to take a new perspective of all that stuff.
As you delve into the beauties hidden in even the junkiest of drawers, remember that our goal is to be creative. This is not a cleaning session…but that is definitely an activity you can partake in after you try a few of these more suitable creative explorations:
Sensory still life: Mix and match shapes, colors, and textures to create a collage or assemblage sculpture that captures the essence of your discoveries. Unite seemingly unrelated elements to tell a new story.
Object transformation: Select an item from your stash and reimagine its purpose. Could that expired coupon book become a unique accessory or drink coaster? Does an Allen wrench windchime sound lovely?
A few Haiku: Use the objects as metaphors for life's complexities; weave a tale of whimsy through poetic verse. How many syllables in a “real” Haiku is kind of up to you, just get down words that feel true. Let them flow for several minutes and enjoy reorganizing them.
By exploring the objects we often overlook or squirrel away for another day, we unlock a realm of creative possibilities. Embrace this neglected space and rediscover the beauty hidden within. Convert clutter into art and turn discarded items into meaningful creations. Your junk drawer awaits a creative revival. Let's delve in!
Note: portions of this prompt created using the tool ChatGPT.
