Creativity - by Darylynn Starr Rank
September, 2006

Welcome back, everyone.  Or welcome back to me.  I’m mostly thinking of welcoming us all back to the fall.  As I write this, one of the all time great Labour Day weekends weatherwise, has just finished.  The sun was out the whole time and, as far as I could see, most of the Lower Mainland was outside enjoying it.

Cycling, swimming, lying on the beach, playing in the parks, rollerblading, just about every team sport I could imagine in every field around.  Birdwatching, dog walking, and boats: sailboats, kayaks, canoes, rowing, powerboats (many going way too fast!).  A glorious goodbye to summer. 

And hello to fall.  (Although I’m hoping the autumn stays sun-filled like this for a little while at least!)

So writing this today is like beginning again.  A beginning of a new season, a new school year, new traffic patterns even.  So many people’s schedules are utterly different, simply by moving from last week to this. 

For some of us there’s true excitement in starting the new school year, new jobs, new patterns.  But for a lot of us, September means some of the fun has gone away.  All of that playing outside I was just talking about.  That summertime lounging about.

Suddenly all I’m thinking about is everything I have to do.  All the work that needs to get done.  All the projects and chores and business that I’ve let go of a bit too much over the summer. 

And I hate that feeling.   I mean I really hate it!  It’s an awful way to start September.  It’s almost like the next happy thing to look forward to is Christmas, with quick blips in between for Halloween and Thanksgiving along the way.  What a terrible way to think about the next few months.

It’s not good… 

(And please feel free to imagine what phrase I really wanted to use there, if I weren’t trying to be polite.)

So I’m here to suggest a slightly different approach to thinking about the fall. 

Do something creative – whatever it may be.

I personally have decided to start working on a new book.  (There, I’ve said it in public.) I absolutely need to get back to my art.  It’s just that simple.  (And of course I get to write these columns.) 

Doing my art has a lot of the same feeling for me as rowing on the ocean all summer, or cycling by the river.  There’s joy and peace and a quiet feeling of well-being.

I think it’s true for a lot of us. 

I found out just a few days ago that there is a huge surge of enrollment in outdoor classes of every kind – sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, etc – right around this time of year.  People want to start something new during the waning days of summer that will see them through the fall and winter. 

So why not do it in the arts as well?  (And with most of the arts you can stay warm and dry while you’re doing it…)

So if you have any hint inside of wanting to do something new, creative, artistic –  writing, painting, decorating, photography, comedy, drama, quilting, dancing – whatever the heck it is! – now might just be the perfect time.

Welcome to a creative autumn.

Take care, all.

Darylynn Starr Rank (psychologist/writer) works part-time for Family Services of Greater Vancouver as a group facilitator. Her articles appear bi-weekly in The Record (New Westminster) and the Richmond Review.

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