Reactivate Your Writing-Brain with Other Creative Pursuits

I've always been into the artsy stuff. When all the other little girls were taking ballet or soccer I was painting a multi-colored duck I made from clay and making my Thanksgiving turkey ceramics "multi-cultural."

I wasn't so good at that math stuff so I threw myself into reading, writing, collaging, jewelry making, music appreciation, catholic iconography (I was raised in a non-devout Southern Baptist family though), Ouija board-making (complete with a popsicle-stick thingie that you put your hands on and it moves around...you know what I'm talking about?), cross-stitching, sewing (by hand, I was afraid of my tiny sewing machine I got for Christmas when I was five), and several years ago I started painting in acrylics on canvas. I am a connoisseur and appreciator of indie crafts.

I did play T-ball for two years when I was six and seven but much of my time was spent in the outfield where I picked dandelions and shuffled my feet while staring into space.
I took figure skating lessons around that time too and ended up getting kicked out because I thought I knew how to do everything and would literally skate circles around the other kids. Not because I was that good--I physically skated in circles around the group and didn't listen to the instructor.

On the other hand, my drawing of a woman with a veil in the middle of a happy jungle made it into a museum for a period of time when I was in first grade.

My point is: I no longer play t-ball or have plans to compete in the winter Olympics anytime soon for ice skating, but I still do all of these other creative things. I immerse myself in many other creative forms whether I'm good at it or not because it relaxes me and gets a different set of creative functions working in my brain which refreshes my perspective and I can tackle my writing with a new energy and insight.

So try indulging in other forms of creativity whether it be refinishing furniture, cooking, quilting, knitting, collaging or whatever, it could bring about stress relief and shake up your brain a bit.