A crazed creative does laundry in pearls and learns to just let it go already!

(There's a crazed look in her eye, I tell ya!
She's pondering the perfect use for pinking shears today.)

I will openly admit that I have hard time with "creative" blogs. I get a pit in my stomach when I see beautiful blogs belonging to fantastic fabric fashioners, printing press princesses, daring designs divas. I want to do every single one of those things that I see. And I want to do them flawlessly. It really is a problem. Sometimes I make myself go to their sites and give myself a figurative slap on the hand. I say: "Self, it's not all about you right now. You do a LOT. And you do it well. Get over it. Leave some of it for someone else who does it better and has the time. Jeesh!" But I still find myself lurking in self-loathing on How About Orange, and Oh Hello Friend. Then I have to remind myself that CLEARLY I am creative. I know this. And it is my blessing. CLEARLY I try to dip my paintbrush into too many pots. This is my curse. I will always want to paint/print/design/photograph/hum/write/sew/craft/code/create. There's no getting around it. But I haven't the time for it all. I have the longest and most well-loved relationship with graphic design. That's where I can boast a full-bodied education steeped in Garamond and gradients, baselines and bleeds. And I hang my hat on its comfortable hook, happily.

But! Oh... the "but." When I find other creative folk out there in the wide world of the web who seem to effortlessly have the ability to "do it all," it trips me up. My mind starts a frenzy of all of the unfinished projects and intended efforts that I have to finish and master. This is SO SILLY of me! My only comfort comes in thinking that maybe I am a little bit of a "Crazed Creative." I am. Maybe a lot of one. Wes also exhibits many of these characteristics. I love this about him. It's what makes him great at what he does. But he always thinks he needs to be doing way more. But it's what keeps him great at what he does. It's probably why we compliment each other so well. **Crazed Creatives get off the hook for this behavior, because we don't really know that we are doing this. We don't really intend to make anyone feel inferior by flaunting our overflowing amount of creative energy, only to pout and say we aren't creative enough. It's like a deficiency. And we lack many other useful skills, like how to be doctors and nurses, investment bankers and Harvard MBAs, and in my case a consistently successful cook. And if I sew something, it never involves a pattern, and I won't ever learn to read music, so that it takes me twice as long to complete these tasks, out of sheer pride that my creative skills should be able to master these things organically. You see? So please just pat us on the head and sigh.

Are you still reading? Where am I going with all of this blabbering? Right on over to Casey Brown Designs. I found Casey HERE on YouTube one afternoon completely by accident. I can't even retrace my steps. And I will tell you why this find is significant for me. I watched all of her delightful videos on achieving an Authentic Vintage Self, and really really liked her! I am not a vintage kind of a gal. I am decidedly modern. But I enjoy it on others, and love vintage/vintage-inspired and heirloom jewelry/accessories, if they have special meaning (they compliment Modern so nicely). So while I was watching Casey I found myself wanting to try the "prefect red lip." Just for fun. FOR FUN! No pressure to be a new aficionado on a perfect pout. Just wanted to see if I could do it. And it was pretty, but not for me. So after watching many of her videos, I decided I wanted to get to know Casey a little more. I found her website. Uh oh. She's one of "those." She does it all. And she has TIME for it. She doesn't have children yet (the other completely legitimate reason I can proffer myself for not starting/completing projects). And because I found her through the "back door," I didn't immediately judge her. I went to her About section, and found that she is surprisingly like me. And I smiled. A big smile! I felt relieved. Not as crazy. Others have done this for me—helped me get over myself and just appreciate. Dandee, A Day that Is Dessert, NieNie (and she was the hardest in the beginning to read, but so worth it). They have helped me realize that I can enjoy the talents of other creative women around me without needing to try to replicate those creative efforts all. the. time. I can benefit from them without having to be them. I can test their creative waters, become inspired, take some gorgeous photos, send a perfectly packaged treat, mother in new and wonderful ways. Then I can comfrotably go back to being me, a little more enriched.

So for one whole day, thanks to Casey Brown, I put on red lipstick, my precious family heirloom pearls that my mom gave me on my wedding day ("Are you sure I can HAVE these!?"), and I DID THE LAUNDRY. No designing. No sewing. No painting. I just did what needed to be done. And I felt really glamorous. Then I wiped it all off so that I could kiss Finn's face until he giggled and pushed me away (while I secretly contemplated how I was going to make Maya that flower mobile out of felt, while racking my brain about where the how-to link had disappeared to...)