When I was younger I used to think that in order to be creative you must have pain, inner turmoil- Simply there must be a struggle of some sort going on. I loved writing and playing in my paints, but I noticed that I only turned to them when life was overwhelming and more than I knew how to deal with… or when a festering itch of a problem became too much.

So I had an issue- I wanted to write- to draw- to paint-to play, but I did not want the life of inner struggle. I did not want to constantly wage war with myself. I wanted a life that was not a rollercoaster of precarious and unidentifiable twists and turns… and bottoms that would drop on you if you waited long enough.

So I came up with this idea- I would have a multi-colored -not white- picket fence. I would leave to my signifigant other (read Prince Charming) the job of building and painting the fence. The colors would have to be horrible clashing colors. I would then fixate on the problem, that was the fence, and thus I would have creative energy without the crisis that I had previously linked it to. Every now and then the fence would become too much and I would dramatically rip it apart and have a bonfire. At this point my Prince Charming would valietly rebuild the fence and we would begin the process all over again.

I have since realised that you do not, in fact, have to be insane, depressed, or crazy (well… maybe a little crazy) to be creative. In fact, you don’t have to be anything at all. You must simply do. To be creative you don’t need books or classes or therapy- you simply need to give your wee voice its crayons back (hugh macleod).

So- out with the crayons and let the party begin!