Leaning Toward Unique

     When I bought my old craftsman style home the original detached garage was badly leaning. At that time I had a view out the window in my spare room that showed me just how crooked my garage was.  I’m not sure why it looked more crooked out this window, but the point of view from my sewing machine made it appear that it could fall over any minute.

     I don't know if the previous owners pondered the garage much--it could drive a person batty doing so...and they likely would have fixed it if it did bother them.   I'm not sure how my neighbors felt about it either though I often had the desire to lean on one side and push up.  I may be the only one who has ever pondered the fate of the old garage, sort of like the residents of Pisa, Italy have done for years with their tower.   It’s a unique perspective to be on level ground looking at a leaning structure--you reexamine where your feet are, that's for certain.                                                                                                                                                                         

     There is a notion that something is more powerful if others see what we see or agree with us.  We feel affirmed if others back us up in similar experiences or thoughts.  The fact that no one else seemed to be bothered much by the garage, in fact, bothered me. 

     Ideally we wouldn't need any one's affirmation of our viewpoint to feel confident about it.  Now, I'm not saying we don't need other people's input--much to the contrary-- but ideally we would begin to see that our ideas and thoughts are powerful even if we're the only ones thinking them. I have to brag on Etsy again for this very reason--it is a community of artists who looked at found objects like driftwood, bottle caps or clothespins and saw possibilities, not trash! 

     Etsy is the model for artists--room to freely express their appreciation for each other's work, learn from others and challenge ourselves.  We add people to our circles, favor various shops and items as a way of saying, "keep up the great work!"    But if Etsy took those features away the artists would still make great art--we don't need affirmation to make art, but it sure feels good to get it.  The same goes for blogging, I suppose!

    Now I'm happy to report that a few years ago my kind and generous Dad made the leaning garage straight.  And you know what?  I haven't thought about the garage much since.  It was much more interesting when it leaned.   I painted 1/2 of it this fall, I cleaned it, but now its no longer the source of that daily thought, "Is that thing gonna fall over?"  The leaning garage was an interesting garage...now I just have a place to park the car.

Think about it:   You have a unique point of view--don't forget that.   Could that idea of yours that everyone else thinks is crazy, in fact be the next sensation?   Try your crazy ideas, listen to that confident visionary deep inside, be creative with abandon and if you absolutely need affirmation from someone, email me! 

Have a creative day!

Susan

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Pinoodles