Out of a Rut 3: Learning (and Loving) New Things

I knew that bouncing back from a creative rut was going to take some time. In the time since I faced this truth, I became a student again (read here) and soaked up as much inspiration as my soul required (read here). Faced with a stagnating creative passion, I also used that period in the rut to reconnect with other things I was passionate or, at least, had been curious about.

I always say that one of the pandemic gifts is the online class/workshop offerings. There is a dearth of arts and crafts workshops here in Tsukuba (in English, at least) and so it was delightful when I could sign up to a class even from halfway around the world. I took a basic leather craft class with my husband where we learned how to make a key fob, a card case, a cord organizer, and a small pouch. I took it a step further and signed up for a bag-making workshop afterward. It was nice remembering how good it felt to be learning something new again.

For some time now, I have been doing a “100 Days of Patterns” challenge. I initially started it because I was toying with the idea of purchasing an iPad for learning surface pattern design but I couldn’t justify to myself if I was going to be doing it for a long time and if the purchase was worth it. So I told myself to practice making patterns by hand first and see if I would fall in love with it. 

I did! I started off following a 30-day class online. When that ended, I continued by coming up with my own prompts and painting them while playing and experimenting with different color palettes. When I feel like I’m drowning in non-teaching tasks like report card-writing or marking artworks, I’d take a pause and pull out my paints and small canvas and I would paint away. When my students are making art, sometimes, I’d make along with them too. I’m at Pattern #70 now and, while I’m still unsure about that iPad, I love how I’ve been progressing with surface pattern design.

Finally, I was one of the many bread heads that sprouted during the pandemic. When I fell into a creative rut, I fell harder into breadmaking. I’ve been keeping a sourdough starter active and I try my best every week to bake something. The thing is, when I commit to perfecting something, I fall into a rabbithole trying to get it perfectly. And so far, that “it” has been sourdough focaccia. And so every week, I tweak the recipe a bit and create a new focaccia loaf.

And so my little series on navigating this creative rut has come to an end. It has been a humbling experience and it has certainly made me more mindful and appreciative of my creativity. I am slowly getting back to making and creating again - very slowly, that is - but I don’t mind at all. I am honoring this pace and, truthfully, I have started to love the pause.