Creativity has suffered this past year for many of us. I don’t remember where I came across this story but I thought it was worth sharing.
Inspiration can always be found though from all types of places if we keep ourselves open to it.
Mary Jean Megginson is an 89-year old fashion illustrator who, like many of us, ended up becoming completely bored and going crazy during the pandemic. Her granddaughter, Caitlin Nystrom came up with a solution. She talked to a friend of hers about art projects.
Mary Jean had been a fashion illustrator for years and Caitlin thought it would be a good way for her to keep busy, occupy her mind and be creative. So she suggested this to her grandmother and met with a bit of apprehension at first, Mary Jean gave it a try.
It didn’t take long for her to get back into her creative groove and drew every day. Most illustrations took her a day, some took one or two days all depending on the level of detail.
Caitlin then created an Instagram account for Mary Jean. The world needed to see her grandmother’s art.
Mary Jean does plan to continue to create her illustrations and drawings but is very much looking forward to getting out and socializing again. You can read more about her story here.
What can we take away from this? Being creative isn’t something we do, it’s something we are. Every one of us is creative in some way. Maybe you don’t draw but you create incredible abstract photographic images, or maybe you sew. Creativity is much more than the arts we tend to identify it with. It’s laying out a landscape plan for your garden, fixing equipment or vehicles using out-of-the-box solutions if needed. Think about it, what is it about what you do that makes you creative?
