10 Things Only Creative People Will Understand
1. We are a breed apart
Yes, that’s right! We do not belong in a circle of “normal” people. Creative people, or as I’d like to call them “Creatives” tend to have the most vivid ideas about anything and everything under the sun. Whether one is deciding on how to decorate the newly painted living room or how to compile a new set of stationery for start of semester, a Creative thinks out of the box. Unconventional (read bizarrely appropriate) is the key here. I often realize how people around me don’t seem to understand what language I’m using or how I can tell the quality of two glues apart just from a drop of each. It is people like us who bring colorful strokes to the boringly linear world.
2. Slow drying glue > quick drying
For a normal person, it’s probably, “That’s just glue.” To me, that statement is blasphemy. Every good craftsperson knows that slow drying glue is best for any project. Tacky Glues with a creamy white consistency works best for any project while quick-drying and often transparent glues are horrible as they wear off and can get very messy while working. I once used a popular brand of quick drying adhesive on paper; guess what? It literally chipped right off!
3. The Luggage Bag!
The luggage bag is a Creative’s center of gravity and has 2 components:
- The inside
- The outside
Things as simple as a scissor to a ballpeen hammer can be found inside the Creative’s bag (Yes I carry all those!). People normally assume that only women keep large bags, often full of make-up supplies, brushes, novels and tiny pretty items. But trust me, Creatives, whether man or woman, keep everything under the sun in their sack of supplies. This makes them prepared for anything that may possibly occur. I have seen people carrying portable screwdriver sets, cutlery, tools, extra batteries, beads, all forms of tape and other things you may need in those rare emergencies (no they are not engineers). I once remember how a friend made cake candles in under an hour for another’s birthday cake because the local shop was out of stock. It merely involved a few sheets of paper, a microwave, thread and a surprising wad of wax in the guy’s bag!
The outside of the bag looks like a scene out of Leonid Afremov’s paintings. It will almost have a color of every hue or would have various items such as badges, key chains, beads, buttons etc. dangling with it. At times these trinkets hanging from the bags are a work of the Creative’s own design.
4. Odd tools take up most of your space
Forget clean open spaces, the workplace is a galaxy of work items! Often, my mom sneaks up on me to see what I am doing but ends up leaving because I can’t explain to her how round-nosed and flat-nosed pliers are different. Over the years I have made a habit of gathering every known tool for making simple jewelry. To store them all some 20 odd storage tins of every size and shape sit in the corner of my cupboard. And yes, it is a giant corner.
5. Lack of storage, make do with alternatives!
Project 1 needs to be in the sun, project 2 needs to be under the fan, project 3 needs to be put in a cool dark place…A Creative’s work space is never limited to the work-table, it is the whole damn house! So often I have had to put my projects on the roof or in the pantry to keep away from parents (read predators) just because my own room doesn’t serve for much. A friend once had to hang a painting in the sun for hours in winters for which she had to tape the painting to the window facing the sun for most of the day. This was just because none of her rooms had enough sunlight coming in.
6. Glue, tape, stapler, safety pins and needles are your best friends
Truly. I cannot tell you the number of times all these items have saved my face in public whether it’s a ripped shirt, tangled ribbons, messed up pages or things that need to be quickly wrapped/packaged/gifted. These are a Creative’s best friends.
7. Save everything, waste nothing (AT ALL)
Never waste anything, just don’t! From the tiny ribbons, tags and safety pins on new dresses, to the beads and gems on make-up kits and perfume bottle caps, the Creative will keep them all. Many at times the Creative will be accused of undue hoarding, he/she will just see it as recycling.
8. Anything can be fixed, altered or made reusable
As the above point says, nothing is to be wasted. No matter what the object is, it can be used as something else even if it’s broken. Lids from jam jars, perfume bottle caps, special types of paper; you name it, they can all be re used. My mom is still apprehensive of that wind charm I made off her broken Royal Doulton plates; it just had the prettiest of patterns!
9. Nothing is used only for what the label says
If the box of pencils says that they are best for drawing/writing, it is highly likely that they will be a good decoration for a plain glass vase.
10. Day dreaming is a thought process
Sometimes Creatives need to phase out from the nonsense of the world around them and wander around – what Sherlock Holmes would call it – their “mind palaces.” A nagging thought such as, “How am I going to make that Peridot and silver coil pendant?” could be the reason why you didn’t hear your mother ask you to pass on the salt over dinner.