Must Paint

I think this is pretty typical of creatives, so I know I’m not alone in my absurdities. There are times, which feel mostly random, when I cannot function with any sort of productivity because I’m distracted by the urge to make something. My left brain halts and retreats while my right brain strips down and streaks across the ball field. My hands fidget while they wait to be utilized and I become overtly irritated if I can’t find something for them to do. I’ll pace and snack until I give over entirely to my creative energy. I write, I cook, I rearrange furniture. I’ve been known to storm about the house looking for things to organize. This is generally when the boys’ toy bins get an overhaul.

But sometimes that’s just not enough.

When I got back from Santa Fe, I told Chuck that I was feeling overwhelmed with the burden to MAKE and DO STUFF. I wanted to run 20 miles, I wanted work on my novel, I wanted to paint the library…

Oh yes! Let’s paint the library. In a day. By myself.

The boring dark brown walls of the library weren’t a regret, but they weren’t inspiring either. I love color, lots of it, particularly in an enclosed creative space that’s entirely mine. I’ve always had pops of color in this room, but against the brown walls, it still felt dull.

Brown, brown, boring brown.

I woke up yesterday morning and started pacing the house almost immediately. This was inconvenient since I have two papers to write (one five-pager, one ten-pager), plus plenty to read, but I couldn’t focus on any of it. MUST MAKE STUFF, growled my right brain. FINE, I said.

The boys and I were back and forth from Home Depot in less than an hour. I got all the furniture moved out of the room in another hour. By noon, I was painting the walls plum (called “Baritone” by Behr).

YES! Color! My right brain danced a jig.

I painted all day, sorted through homeschool curriculum while it dried, and moved everything back in the room after dinner. By 10 p.m., I was back at my desk checking message boards for graduate school. My shoulders, while sore, had finally relaxed. The creative energy was expelled and I could focus on everything else without my right brain stomping and screaming like a toddler.

The empty wall space behind the desk is for my graduate degree. Fingers crossed.

The plum walls look bright in the evening and dark in the daytime, which just shows you how important lighting is.

I think Salem needs a throw rug, don’t you?