Stephanie Howell

via typography served

 

via ffffound

 

via evoking you

 

 confession time. i'm going to share a pet peeve of mine with you. i really, really don't like it when non-crafty people look at me like i've sprouted a second head and say…

"where do you find the time?".

i do not like it. not one little bit. it perturbs me. or as my friend jamie would say, it "makes me stabby". haha! 

and before some of you get stabby with ME, let me clarify. i'm not speaking of the person that genuinely wants to know, the person that is not saying it in a condescending way. i'm talking about the person that says it in a smug way.

this is something i've noticed over the past few years, a comment that keeps popping up here and there.

 

here's my thought process on this.

we ALL have the same hours in the day.

some of us choose to run marathons. some of us watch television. some of us read. some of us volunteer. some of us cultivate a spotless house (not me). some of us are caught up on the laundry.

some of us work outside the home. some of us garden. some of us exercise.

some of us craft.

some of us can do more than one of these things.

 

i LOVE being creative. it makes me me. does that make sense? i'm a happier person with creativity in my life. i grew up around a creative mother. creativity is what i love.

 

don't make me feel like i waste my time,or as if my hours are less valuable than yours. whew…i said it!

 

i always feel as if "where do you find the time?" is a backhanded compliment.

 

as if i must be neglecting my family. or locking the babies in a cage while i make decoupaged toilet paper roll holders.

or like i'm  wasting my time. or as if i have no life.

 

i LOVE making things. i love scrapbooking. i love making my home beautiful. i love throwing parties for my girls (with handmade decorations).

this does not mean i neglect other areas of my life (ummmm, well maybe the laundry needs some help).

this does not mean i put my kids in front of a tv 8 hours a day so that i can scrapbook.

and it doesn't even come CLOSE to meaning that *my* time is any more valuable or any more special than yours. i don't think i'm better than anyone who *doesn't* hand craft birthday decor. it doesn't mean i think i'm better than someone who doesn't enjoy making. i don't even think about it! everyone has their "thing". my thing is making.

 

where do i find the time? i make the time. i try to spend a few minutes a day doing something creative. that might mean that i make a tree topper (glitter and paper plates- we can't ever find one we like to buy!) with my girls. it might mean i hand wrap a gift. it might mean i buy a bouquet and put it in a transferware pitcher. it might mean i make a scrapbook page, or journal,or decorate my mantel.

sometimes i don't have the time. i don't find it. i feel like that recently. and i miss it! i feel less "me". less fulfilled.

yesterday decorating the tree and decorating the mantel fulfilled my need. paper crafting has falling a bit by the wayside but i'm having to fill that hole in other ways right now.

 

i make the time because it is important to me! and my family appreciates it.

i do have a life. and it is enriched by living creatively!

 

it was the same way when i was a prolific exerciser (is that a word???)- i've fallen off the wagon a bit. haha! but people would say the same thing.

 

is it a woman thing? do women have to say this to one another to justify their choices? or make themselves feel better about something that's bothering them?? i don't get it! you don't need to say it to me! you do what you enjoy doing, i do what i enjoy doing.

 

one is NOT better than the other!

wow. i feel much better now that i've shared that with the world.

dare i say that blogging might be just as good as therapy? at the very least it's just as good as punching a punching bag.

hahahah! happy thursday y'all!…spend it doing whatever floats YOUR boat. i promise i won't judge you for it. 🙂 ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

xxo

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