Monday, August 13, 2012

Brain Freeze?

Do you ever have a mental block about a project? Sometimes I am very creative, and interested in doing all kinds of things. But give me an assignment, and a curtain falls before my brain. I can think of 50 things I want to do instead. And there are at least as many things I should do before I start. Why is this?
It isn't a new phenomenon. My sisters joke that they should never ask me to make something, but take what I offer them quickly. They know about the difficulty I have when I must do anything, even if it's something I want to make. It feels like my mind has already played with that idea, and it wants to go in a different direction.
Since I have had a certain assignment, I have made 3 little Fragments quilts, 6 rock mosaics, 5 small purses, 6 collaged books, 4 fused glass dishes, a weaving, numerous small sketches, 1 quilt which I adapted to fit the assignment, and 2 starts on the assignment, which I then chose to make not according to directions.
I choose to call this Oppositional Defiance Disorder. I know that is a real diagnosis certain other people suffer from. I suspect it may be behind my feelings of " You can't make me" whenever I am told to follow the rules. It would be nice to benefit from the many fine associations and opportunities that would be available to me, if I could toe the line. But I get a feeling of having to catch my breath, and step away when faced with rules or an authority figure. I have an urge to slip out of the room, become invisible.
So, if you want me to make something, don't ask me to do it, or I never will. And if I made something you like, just like it as it is. Because I might make variations of it, but not if you ask me to.

4 comments:

Leann said...

True 'nuf. But sometimes I find the opposite is true, if I have no parameters I need to set my own, or I'm overwhelmed at the possibilities.

jackie said...

I think we may suffer from a similar disorder. Those boots looked pretty well travelled, do you think they were the same ones!

hollyllama said...

I'm with you there, Kat! Are we struggling with the pumpkin challenge right now? ;)

Anonymous said...

I share the same ODD behavior. Can you teach an old(er) Kat (and Deb) new tricks...probably not. Make peace with ourselves...and adjust

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