Dear Maya, Thanks!

Submitted by Dianne McD.

A few weeks ago, Cydney G sent me this quote by Maya Angelou and thought it was share-worthy:

“You can’t use up creativity.
The more you use, the more you have.”

How many times have you heard someone say, “Oh, I’m not creative.”  Have you said it?  I spent a good part of my life believing that about myself because I couldn’t draw like my sister or brother or my best friend.  As I got older, I learned otherwise:

In the mid-1980’s, I was a young mother of two babies and a toddler and living in a split-entry house in Gresham, Oregon.  As busy as I was, dinner still needed to be made. Several times, as I was getting ready to start dinner, I’d find that I didn’t have the right ingredients around. Meal delivery hadn’t yet been invented in Gresham; and when you’re living on a shoestring, you can’t eat out much. So I had two options:

1. Go to the store, which meant carrying two babies while herding a three-year-old down 14 steps, and then loading them into car seats in a temperamental station wagon; only to reverse the process once I got back from the grocery store. Or
2. Come up with something using hotdogs with mac and cheese that came in a blue box.

You can guess the option that always won out.  Looking back, I was probably using my creativity; but it felt more like desperation.

By the early 1990’s, we were living in Beaverton. One year when the kids were 7 and 10, my job title switched back to Full-Time Mom.  All three kids were in school, and I decided that I would finally spend some time learning how to cook. The Internet didn’t exist yet, but I had my trusty Betty Crocker and Fanny Farmer cookbooks to get me started.  And of course, there were the morning TV shows!  As I was learning new things, I was finding that cooking was a necessity but also a creative endeavor.  I was starting to ask, “What if…”.  On more than one occasion, someone would ask me what was for dinner and I’d answer, “Mom’s Surprise”.  They soon learned that meant something was coming they’d never eaten before.

Fast forward to 2009 or 2010.  The kids were in their mid to late twenties. My oldest son’s new in-laws were in town for Christmas, and we were hosting all of them for Christmas dinner.  My husband and I generally collaborate on the holiday meals, and we had served up a tasty dinner this time.  As we were finishing our meal, the sister-in-law exclaimed how good the meal was and how lucky our kids were to be part of such a culinary family.  Without missing a beat, my youngest son said, “Oh, we were in high school before Mom hit her stride in the kitchen.”  After a couple of seconds of stunned silence, we all burst out laughing!

Chris was right.  It did take me awhile (although, if asked, I might have said middle school).  And while I’m no Julia Child today, I’m glad I took the time to learn something which lead me to exercising my creativity.  I’m also glad I had the courage to continue to serve Mom’s Surprise over the groans of the family.  Evidently, in the end, things got noticeably better.

Years later, I know I haven’t “hit my stride” in the sewing studio.  But I’ll tell you what–I’m having a ton of fun working towards it!  I’m learning so much and dipping into my creativity well over and over.  It’s good to know the well won’t run dry.  Thanks, Maya (and Cydney) for the encouragement.

PS: Last night, I served “Dianne’s Surprise” for dinner.  It wasn’t very good.  But I’ve been thinking about it, and I think I know how to make it better…..