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Welcome to Mini Miracles from Minor Moments where you’ll find small insightful incentives to blossom.
Hi, I am Linda Gullo, your Host. Today I have been thinking about the many opportunities there are for being creative. From the time I was a toddler, I’d play with a big cookie tin filled with buttons. I remember matching them up and sorting them by color and size. I’d do it over and over again. My mothers sewing stuff kept me intrigued for hours while she would sew baby bonnets for a hat company.
I developed a love for fabrics- the feel of silks, plain cottons, chenille, soft knits and other textures from the pile of scraps mom had accumulated. Both my mother and my grandmother were excellent seamstresses. It sort of became part of my DNA to sew too.
I remember having someone trace me on a piece of shower curtain material that was in mom’s collection of fabrics. I cut the outline out and make a vest using an old industrial sewing machine. I remember oiling the bottom of the material so it would glide easily as I had seen my mom do with plastics. When it was finished it was too small. I had not allowed for the seams and learned quickly that was necessary. That was the first of several attempts that didn’t quite add of to something usable, but I kept trying.
I think about it now and realize that those machines were fast and I could have run my fingers over with the needle. Thank God my mother let me sew; I never did get hurt. Often I would have to rip out my stitches over and over again from mistakes. I’d learn to think before I sewed things so I wouldn’t have to go that route.
I’d go on to make doll clothes and mom taught me to cut out wrap around fashions for them. I realize now that fabric is like a canvas board for an artist or a piece of paper for a writer. It is blank and offers a place for creativity. It is one of those things that allows us to express ourselves and come away with a visual product. Over the years, I covered old furniture, sewed for our family, and decorated our home. My love for linens and textiles still is present.
Now I don’t find the time or the same needs that I once had to be sewing from scratch. If I do get so possessed it is for a one time project that I intentionally make time to do. Instead I have taken to writing, blogging, and sharing on podcasts.
SO MY QUESTION TO YOU IS: What area or means do you use to be creative? Where is your canvas? Where do you blossom? Is it along with flowers in the garden or in the local pool teaching others how to swim? Are you a teacher for your own children or a professor at a University? Just what is your fabric for designing the life you long to have?
I was watching a barber cut hair one day and when the person got up out of the chair, they looked so tidy and ready to conquer the world. For the barber, the head offered a canvas for sculpting an appropriate haircut. So maybe you want to be a hair dresser, a physical therapist, a technician, or medic? Is it time to find a new profession?
Watch a dog when it is playful. They will grab a toy, a slipper, or something nearby and begin tossing it or playing keep away. Likewise, children too will play with empty boxes or simple things that roll. Playtime becomes a moment of learning and creativity. One of our grandchildren, who was a toddler at the time, would take her toys and drop them into a swinging lid of a waste basket. We’d have to dump them out of the bin and she’d start again and again. Of course, I kept that plastic can clean knowing it was now a toy. Simple and a place to develop coordination at the same time.
When we learn to entertain ourselves, we are seldom bored. It is good to find time to think and let things come out. I share these modes of expression with you to encourage you to find your palette and passion. Do fun things where you can express yourself.
My husband was a commercial photographer. It brought him great joy to set up props and frame out ideas. He was visually perceptive and to this day does well at seeing the bigger picture when it comes to decorating a room. He can see the colors with the furniture and blend it all together. I will often run colors by him when I am looking a clothes in a catalog or when I want to buy paint for a room.
Here at Mini Miracles the smallest seeds provide opportunities for growth and advancement. Opportunities for enrichment, life changes, and expansion. Our abilities to succeed in various careers were combined with skills learned along the way. Yes through education, life experiences, travel and experimentation, careers develop. Think about a mechanic who has learned to take things apart and reassemble them. The dexterity of screwing and removing parts creates a series of coordinated skills that can carry over into almost any manufacturing company.
My brother was interest as a young teen with crystal sets and radios. People would give him old ones that didn’t work. He’d replace the tubes, solder the resisters or condensers, and put everything back together into working units. His working for hours on end in an old basement near a window became his passion. Fast forward to years later–he’d enter science fairs and win scholarships to college and an Electrical Engineering degree. It was just the beginning of a magnificent career .
What is your story? How did you learn? Was it hands on, watching how something was done, or listening to tapes? We have one child who would sing along to music from other countries. Her ability to listen and hear well allowed her Bilingual skills to soar. Our skills are polished with practice and can be applied in so many arenas. Thinking outside the box is essential to excel in this world. Yes, the technology is great and the opportunities for performing may be different than it was 10 years ago, but the baseline skills we learn in school and around the house growing up can move us into wonderful entertaining professions.
So pursue what it is you like to do. Find mentors in the areas you are interested in learning about, and continue to develop new hobbies at every age. “Find what fits you well and wear it?” That applies to every aspect of your life not just the clothes on your back. And remember too that perfection is nice, but steady progress is better.
Until next week, feel free to contact me through the website www.lindagullo. com or at linda@delightinliving.com If you like our weekly podcasts, please subscribe and give us a good review at I-tunes! Thanks and have a super week. Remember —
“One single step may put you on the escalator of success!”
by Linda Gullo