Saturday, January 5, 2013

Jessa Slade's Other Creative Passion

Happy New Year!

Are you ready to rock 2013?

I'm over @ Author Paty Jager's Blog today. Join me to talk about Volunteerism, Wherever We Are.

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Welcome, Jessa Slade, author of A Little Night Muse

What are your thoughts on my New Year’s resolution to Take Time for Other Creative Passions?


Jessa Slade

Jessa says, "Writing is my first and deepest creative passion. I’ve given up a lot in order to focus on that love. I don’t paint or draw anymore. I do very little photography. I wish I could dance more. The bittersweet reality is, I don’t have enough hours in my life to do all the things I would love to do.



But I have kept a couple creative outlets: gardening and beading. In both cases, I think these alternate creative passions compliment and support my writing, so I can justify the time I spend on these hobbies, even when I should be writing. I’m a very cerebral writer, which is not always to my benefit. Gardening and beading allow me to NOT THINK for awhile. So even though sometimes I have to force myself away from the computer to go outside or riffle through my beads boxes, I’m better for it in the end.

Plus, both gardening and beading are so much like writing, allegorically. Gardening starts with lots of shoveling shit. Only long hours of cultivating and weeding gets you to the bloom at the end. In beading, you string one bead at a time until you have a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Being able to finish a necklace in a night (unlike a book which takes, um, somewhat longer) gives me a little boost of immediate achievement, while gardening teaches me patience, which I sorely lack. Funnily enough, the necklace that came together in a night lasts forever while the garden is gone with the first frost. Ah, irony.

Both give me pleasure -- and much-needed distraction -- when the writing gets rough. And my muse likes marionberries and sparkly things as much as I do.

I’m always looking for new additions to my garden and bead box. Do you have a favorite flower or gemstone that gives you pleasure? Please share in comments."

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Thanks, Jessa. I'm ready to create ... in more ways than one.
Cathryn

... red hot romance!
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THE RESOLUTION TOUR - January 1 - 9, 2013




Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation
Jessa Slade - Get Organized
Paty Jager - Volunteerism
Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life
Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier
Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination
Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions
Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss
Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet

6 comments:

  1. I try to plant my peas around April 1st every year. Then is seemes like the longest wait until I get the rest of the plants in.

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    1. I'm always too late on the peas and too early on everything else :)

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  2. I love the flower planting part. I hate the weeding part, which is opposite my writing. In my writing, I struggle with the planting part after the first 100 pages and I love the editing (weeding) part. Favorite flower? The common daisy. The proliferate like crazy and last a long time. Favorite gem? Emeralds. Much better than diamonds and green is my favorite color.

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    Replies
    1. Funny how your favorite parts are reversed. I think saving the weeding for your writing makes more sense anyway, because it's never done in the garden!

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  3. I have always liked the idea of gardening but since I have no backyard, the closest I get is buying produce at the local Farmer's Market. :-)

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    Replies
    1. My stuff never looks as nice as the farmers' market goods :) Also, farmers' markets always have bakeries too, and brownies never spring out of my dirt!

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