Dear Creativity,
I have a confession. I have a lot of unfinished projects. Dreams unrealized. Endless ideas fill my brain with possibilities that overwhelm and energize me with boundless excitement. And yet, I am afraid to take the first step. Creativity, you have never encouraged me to embrace being perfect and yet I always wrestle with wanting everything to work out just right.
So, what happens to a project deferred?
When I put off a project it creates mental clutter that can overwhelm my already exhausted mind. It fills what little space I have to gather my thoughts and take a mental break from thinking, overthinking, perfecting, and being a perfectionist. Sometimes I find the best way to move forward is to take deliberate action fueled by inspiration. Recently, I have been learning about The Gifts of Imperfection from Brene Brown. In this book, she talks about digging deep to live wholeheartedly. So today, I put her lesson into action and looked to DIG deep.
Get Deliberate.
Get Inspired.
Get Going.
I live in a fairly dark apartment with little direct natural light. I have intentionally sought out plants that will thrive with minimal light both indoors and on my very shady patio. In my home, we love to use fresh herbs when cooking and I would love to have a herb garden, but herbs need sunlight. My solution is to build myself a hydroponic herb garden. I don’t know when and how this idea got planted in my brain, but I have had the intention for the longest time to embark on this project. Get Deliberate. Check.
Over two months ago, my dear friend sent me a Gardener Barbie. I was delighted to receive such a beautiful and thoughtful surprise in the mail. Had she read my mind about the desire to create an herb garden? This friend of mine who is the most thoughtful gift giver, sent me this Barbie because it reminded her of my mother and myself gardening together at my childhood home. My heart swelled, those were special times and she was honoring that memory. Who knew one Barbie doll could connect me to my deceased mother and my ideas for a hydroponic herb garden? Get Inspired. Check.
I have another secret confession, Creativity. I have a small yet mighty collection of inspiring dolls in unopened boxes. There is Katherine Johnson, Maya Angelou, Ella Fitzgerald, Rosa Parks, Wonder Woman, and Engineer Barbie. There is even Elastigirl that I won in a raffle. A set of bold, risk-taking, courageous women to inspire me on my journey through life. The fate of Gardener Barbie was clear, to take her boxed place next to them all. Last week, Brene Brown her book, The Gifts of Imperfection, came blazing in with a new perspective on perfectionism. It was time to bust Barbie out of her plastic shell of a box and take action. So I opened her up and took her out to the apartment complex quad for a little photo shoot and took the first step towards making the hydroponic herb garden a reality. Get going. Check.
With the image of a blooming garden through play with my Barbie, I was inspired to get curious about what it would take to make my dream of fresh herbs growing in my hand-built hydroponic garden a reality. When a deferred project starts to take up too much head space DIG deep and play (Barbies are allowed) and all roads lead back to you, Creativity. You are the partner needed to make all that seems impossible possible.
Innovatively yours,
Dr. Abigail
