Re-purposing. I love it. This weekend’s project confirmed for me, once again, that creative thinking is gold. Nurturing that right side of my brain always means clearing out the enormous bits of concerns and obligations stacking up in there. Clearing the decks and simplifying life seems essential because any new way of thinking takes room to germinate. Creativity needs elbow room.
What you see here is a china hutch that my grandpa bought when he lived in San Francisco, probably in the ’40’s. My mom inherited it and housed the required china in it for 40 years as did I for half of that. Then I got smart and started thinking for myself. However, I still remember the day my mom noticed the the stack of colorful tablecloths in one of the shelves. Her exact comment: “Why would you want to do that?” My brain said, Well, mom, I wanted more color. I was bored. I’m tired of living such a predictable life.
Fast forward to 2015 and behold, my new entertainment center. Yes, we had to deface this prized piece of furniture with a hole in the back for several cord attachments, but it worked divinely. And this grand idea is all courtesy my wonderful husband. And look, tucked beside the left side of the hutch is a birch branch he especially cut for his TV head phones. Now that is thinking outside the box.
I’m wondering if my limited ability to think beyond the ordinary is rooted in the evil likes of perfectionism. If you one is raised in a household where “There is a RIGHT way. Which, by the way, is the only way” they forge through life attempting to make everything perfectly RIGHT. This narrow viewpoint doesn’t leave much room for new ideas. Certainly not the unusual kind. Every task, every activity, every thought is honed into that particular way and you just get used to thinking this way. I know. This all leads up to the china hutch project. The one that is SUPPOSED to hold china, of course. The switch from ordinary to unique was such fun and ever so satisfying. And really, feelings of satisfaction, however you can get them, lead to a more satisfying life in general.
Sorry, mom. I am not a china kinda gal. Frightening to you, I’m sure, was the Corelle you saw stacked in my kitchen. They didn’t match and were different sizes but, then again, they didn’t break with all the clanking necessary if you want to leave the kitchen as fast as you can. They’re so perfectly light weight, indestructible, and look like new 20 years later.
Hallelujah to those creative brains who keep our lives stimulated with new ideas and, especially, new ways of thinking about old subjects. We all have it in us to varying degrees, but our minds are usually too crowded to unleash this hidden potential. Food for thought, wouldn’t you say?