Sometimes You Just Have To Make A Mess

I spent an hour this morning before anyone else was awake putting the finishing touches on a gigantic basket I have been weaving. I wish you could have heard my husband laugh when he woke up and came to find me and saw the mess I had made! My creative chaos has become a family joke, because although normally I am a very organized person and I like everything to be neat and orderly, I become an absolute slob when I start creating something. I try to be neat… I really do. When I make a basket, for example, I carefully lay out all of my tools and organize the pieces of reed according to their widths, and I keep a big container nearby to throw my clippings in. And for a while I’m very conscientious about keeping everything picked up and in order as I work. ALWAYS, though, at some point after I have become really involved in what I am doing, I come up for air, look around, and feel absolutely overwhelmed by the mess I have created. My husband says not to worry about it, that I have a creative spirit and he loves the things I make. Years ago he told me that he had thought of the ideal solution and would make a deal with me. He proposed that we work on creative projects together, and that my job would be to do the creating and his job would be to come in afterwards and do the cleaning up. Of course, I could never just walk away and leave the mess for him, but I do always gratefully accept his help… and our creative partnership has made it easier for me ever since. No wonder I love this man!

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