Messiness Can Mean Creativeness

“Creatives can be messy!”

The contents of this house change and shift like the morning tide. One thing remains, messiness.

The problem with me is so many ideas run through my head when I see objects. I see it for their true potential. I don’t see an old, dirty, vintage camera at a yard sale. I see a gallery wall of art, unique knick-knacks, and that vintage camera, now shiny and pristine, hanging proudly on display in my home. That camera captured someone else’s greatest memories and I have given it a new purpose.

To me, it isn’t messiness. To my husband, it’s a source of constant frustration. He frequently asks me, “What do we need this for?” To which I reply with five different ideas on how that item could be used as he walks away shaking his head. I have ideas for a big empty box, old note cards, stickers, outgrown t-shirts, used socks, excessive amounts of scrapbook paper, seashells, tiny clothespins, beads, empty paper towel tubes; this list is endless.

My desk and workspace are often cluttered.

Post-it notes are scattered about with reminders scribbled on them to do adult tasks like, “Take vitamin D” and “Pay bills.” There are various types of adhesives, pens, markers, bottles of paint, numerous paintbrushes jammed in jars, ephemera, and notebooks filled with project ideas littered across the white laminate surface. I am often pushing supplies and random objects out of my way to free up space to write or paint.

My cluttered chaos is actually very controlled and organized in my own mind. If you enter my craft room and ask me for something, I know exactly where it is. Go ahead, ask me for a waterproof calligraphy pen, metallic watercolors, a tiny glass jar with a wooden cork top, printer ink, felt squares, fabric, sea glass, or washi tape. I can find it all in a jiffy.

I find that if my workspace is too clean then my creativity doesn’t flow as easily.

My mess is mine. Tools, supplies, and inspiration surround me. It sparks my creativity to start my next project.

Even my art is messy.

My paint-smeared hands and glue-stained clothes tell the story of my artistic journey. I’m tactile.  I like to touch and immerse myself in the project. I’m bold and fearless when it comes to getting dirty. I get lost in my art and creating is a source of Zen for me. The only concern is what I am creating, so I don’t stop and think about what I am wearing and if I should get paint on it or not.

I should probably go back to Kindergarten ideology and wear a smock. But sometimes my creativeness is spontaneous. I sit down to pay bills, get a creative idea, and the next thing I know, the bills aren’t paid, I’m covered in paint and so is half my desk, and my brand-new shirt is destroyed.

Why can’t I keep my house in order?

I have asked myself this over the years. I didn’t understand. I like clean and uncluttered spaces. I love that feeling you get after you clean and organize your home and everything is in its place. For me, that feeling does not last long. That clean desk is quickly filled with paint and project materials. The closet once again has clothes strewn about and items not in the right place. All the shoes I’ve worn this week are regularly piled by the front door. I can’t win.

Then one day it occurred to me that I can’t be bothered by such things. Who has time to do dishes and scrub baseboards? I have canvas to paint, a sewing machine to use, stories to write, and things to create. The shoes will be there to clean up later, but my inspiration to create may not be. I react to what feeds my soul and let me tell you, dusting isn’t a source of motivation for me.

Being messy is a good thing.

I looked at my messiness as a negative trait all these years. Now I embrace it. This is me. Creative and fun. I love that I am a thinker, inventor, creator, and part-time MacGyver.

Guess what? I’m not alone. I’m in good company. Everyone from Steve Jobs, Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, and J.K. Rowling, all sat at a messy desk.

Being in a messy room does make you more creative.  A study was conducted and found that people in a messy room came up with more highly creative ideas than people in an organized room.

Here’s a thought-provoking quote often associated with Einstein, but Laurence Peter actually said it: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then is an empty desk a sign?”

Think about that!

“Dull people have immaculate homes.”

This quote also made me think about some of my friends’ houses. Their beautifully decorated homes filled with expensive furniture and the latest technology. As I walk around, I think to myself, “What the heck do they do in here? There’s no hobbies anywhere, just  TV.”  I do not mean to be so judgmental but for someone who is always tinkering away on a project, it is unfathomable to me for someone to not have an interest in anything.

For years, I have had a drawing that depicts a very messy living room and the caption that says, “Dull people have immaculate homes.” It was given to me by one of my professors when I was in my master’s program. It really spoke to me and I have had it displayed on the side of my refrigerator ever since. There just might be some truth to that. The contents of my house are such an eclectic mix. I have so many interests, ideas, and mini-projects going on at one time.

Showing Signs of Improvement

In more recent years, I have been more conscious about the clutter. Trying not to let it affect common areas of the house.

I also liquated all my “projects I will do in the near future” over the summer by having a series of my own yard sales. I’m one person and I can’t possibly do it all.

I would love to be super organized but no matter how many times I tell myself that this is the year/month/day that I start being that way, the truth is I never will never be.

I have tried to downshift into a minimalist mindset. The less I have, the less I have to clean! This way, all my attention can be more focused on creating.

Disclaimer:

You don’t need to be an artist to be creative. There are a lot of people that are creative that never pick up a paintbrush; creative geniuses work in all types of fields: business, retail, hospitality, marketing, catering, and so forth.

AND

Not all creatives are messy. There are those that are organized. You probably know someone whose house could be featured in an issue of Magnolia Journal, their family is always exquisitely dressed, they always seem to have it all together, yet they are super creative.

Whichever type of creative you are, embrace it and be proud of it. And the next time you walk by a colleague’s messy desk or visit a friend’s disheveled home, just appreciate them for the creative creatures that they are without judgment. We can’t help it.

Follow me on social media and share pictures of your creative messiness.