Thursday, January 20, 2011

The third time's a charm!

I considered starting an entirely new blog to cover up my poor blogging track record. But I decided to return to Drawing Near and keep my blogging history intact. The first time I tried blogging, in 2008, I had a newborn daughter and an ambition to blog daily with a different theme for each day of the week. In a word, crazy! My second foray into the blogosphere came in 2009, when I had a toddler and a second newborn daughter. Though more realistic about my blogging schedule this time, I just couldn’t keep up my enthusiasm. I skipped a year and let both my girls get solidly into toddlerhood—they are now 2 and 3—and now I’m ready to try again. This time around I’m not doing a daily theme and I’m not focusing on updates on the girls. Instead, I’m interested in recording my efforts to revive and maintain my identity as a creative spirit in the midst of my roles as wife and mother.

I don’t like to get too caught up in a narrow definition of what it means to be creative, so that if I don’t create an art journal page or work on a collage, I feel like I haven’t been “creative.” I want to recognize all forms of creativity in my life—planning activities with the girls each day; finding some new way to brighten the house or recharge its energy; figuring out how to organize the toys, papers, and other piles that seem to crop up everywhere; planning meals; thinking of some new food, activity, or craft to try. But beyond the everyday creativity required by parenting and “homemaking,” I also want to explore and describe my broadening interests in arts and crafts.

If there’s one thing I love, it’s paper. And beads. And fabric. And paint. And pens. And books. And art journals. And collages. And decoupage. And altered objects. And polymer clay…You get the idea. What I lack in focus, I make up in variety! I have discovered by reading the words of many other blogging moms that I am certainly not alone in trying to enjoy my creative identity and share the fruits of a creative spirit with my children. I am hoping to use this blog to celebrate and explore my creative self.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

'Instead, I’m interested in recording my efforts to revive and maintain my identity as a creative spirit in the midst of my roles as wife and mother'

I LOVE this andria! i have no right to judge, but some women simply do take on the role as wife or mother and that is all they seem to think they are.

so many women fought for our rights to be seen as human beings, and is so nice to read about YOUR identity.
and dare i say it, especially as a religious woman. where in religion, women did not have very prominent let alone equal roles.
good on you!

A "Freakin' Angel" said...

Welcome back!

A "Freakin' Angel" said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anne said...

Hope you're able to keep the blog up and running -- combining your creative spirit and engaging writing style will make for a most interesting site to check regularly. And I hope you include pictures because you've done some amazing work.

Anonymous said...

"If there’s one thing I love, it’s paper"

truly defines Andria, sure your daughters beat paper, but sure they will also love paper...