Creativity takes many forms

Living creative life means doing more than just practicing your art (music, painting, drawing, dance). Living a creative life involves using creative thought processes in almost everything you do. Sometimes that will give you inspiration for your next project, sometimes it is just good mental exercise. Creative living keeps us young, keeps our minds alert and active, and contributes to good health. Today I had a tea party and my guest (yes, there was only one) was one of my Red Hat sisters. Our chapter has a traveling teapot. One member invites another member to tea and then passes on the teapot so her guest can host a tea party for another member and so forth until everyone has been a guest and a hostess. I started the chain.

So, you say, where's the creativity in that? Tea parties often have themes. I chose not to use the traveling teapot for my party because I have a lovely red tea/luncheon service that I preferred to use instead. The theme--everything red and purple. First I needed a menu. A proper tea has three courses: bread, savory, sweet. My bread: Cherry scones. My savory: Chicken salad with cranberries in filo shells. My sweet: Cherry Shortbread, Almond Cake decorated with red roses and a purple band, and Madeleines. The tea: Eastern Shore Tea Company Cherry Moon (cherry scented green tea). Next there was the table setting. I chose to use a white table cloth because it is formal and because I don't own a red or purple one. Besides, you can have too much of a good thing. My centerpiece was red roses in a tall rose bowl with purple ribbons tied around the neck. I tied purple ribbons onto some red wooden napkin rings. Top it all off with fine silver and an antique cake stand, and the table was complete. Do you see how everything tied back to the theme of red and purple both literally and figuratively? This is creative thinking in everyday life.

I am looking forward to getting back to my paint brushes, but I try to practice creative living every day whether I have an opportunity to paint or not. Maybe it is time to paint some hats--red and other colors, too. Or maybe I'll build a still life with teapots or tea cups.