Creativity, Productivity and Material Success

In my mind, there aren't many folks that combine all these factors in one.  I tend to believe that most folks focus on one or two of the three and considered the third somewhat less important.

The Whole Package

I know a lot of people who are productive and materially successful.  The hard-working types who do a lot of work and "get ahead" through determination.  These folks typically don't have a lot of creative outlets in their life.  I also know a lot of people who are incredibly creative and and could come up with 101 ways to re-use a coffee can that would amaze and astound others with the resulting beauty.  Yet often these creative types don't care to exercise that same level of creativity in marketing themselves and leveraging their creativity for material success.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think anyone should feel obliged to meet some standard of success in any of the three areas, but I do think that having some level of balance in all three of these areas has given me a strong sense of accomplishment in my life.

While my aptitude lies more in the area of Productivity and Material Success has come as a result, I honestly wish that I had more innate creativity than I do.  Being creative takes a lot of work for me and comes more by trial and error than by inspiration or some in-bred sense of aesthetic taste.  I guess most people are inclined to want what they don't have, and it's certainly true for me in this regard.

I look at someone like Kaffe Fasset or Trisha Malcolm and see people who have seemingly taken something about which they are passionate, and parlayed that passionate creativity (along with an incredibly strong work ethic) into something materially successful, and I revere that quality in them.

I will always encourage the risk it takes for a creative person to embark on a path of material success because when it's successful, it can be a truly amazing thing.

New Ventures
In that light, there is an amazingly creative and energetic soul who has been busy promoting the fiber arts, and he's got a new concept going that I think is fantastic.  Kyle William has begun a new series entitle Fiberguys (no, it's NOT a new laxative for men!), highlighting and encouraging the creative side of men in the knitting and fiber community.  His first interview is with one of my favorite knitter/spinner guys, Aaron Bush.  Suffice it to say, I will be following this series closely and will hopefully be able to find the up and coming, new and inspiring creative guys who I can try and help promote.

I'd also like to highlight a new independent yarn dyer in the U.K., Jon Dunn-Ballam, who is doing some amazing work.  Franklin has also encouraged this newcomer with good reason, and I would like to try and further expose the creatively beautiful work he's been doing.

Current Knitting
Just so you know, Linen Stitch progresses at a snail's pace...especially when there are more than 500 stitches in each row.

But as you can see, I am progressing on the Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf, and I am loving each and every minute color combination this pattern and yarn are creating.


I also want to note that I have been considering going from the current US4 needle to a US5 or 6 for the second half of the scarf, hoping to get a nice soft ruffle as Barb Brown described in her comments.   But I'm terrified that it won't come out how I envision it, and I'll have to rip it out and re-do it.  I don't know if I could take the rejection.