Posts tagged with "creativity"

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When Spongebob Squarepants comes calling…

Opening the front door to a hypothermic hedgehog is one thing but when you find Spongebob Squarepants on your doorstep, you know that this in not normal.

I’ve been thinking about ‘normal’ quite a lot recently; about how we decide what is and why it seems to be valued so highly.  I’ve always had an ambivalent relationship with ‘normal’ and feel it is a vastly overrated commodity. 

I think that is why I love Halloween so much; the one night of the year when the rules of normality get suspended.  Every culture seems to have an equivalent whether it is called carnival, fiesta or something else.  

Scissors, glue, coloured card and glitter don’t feature much in my ‘normal’ life, but Halloween offers the perfect opportunity.  So now there are black cardboard bats in the carport, flickering ‘skulls’ in the front garden, a wreath of dead flowers on the front door and assorted pumpkins have been carved.  I’ve loved every minutes of it; working with my hands and imagination rather than with my keyboard and logic. 

So far my ‘Blue Peter’ efforts with scissors, card and vegetable knife seem to be paying off.  My pumpkins have been declared “cool”, “awesome” and “well mega” (thank you zombiepumpkins.com).  My costume and make-up have been deemed impressive (thank you Martha Stewart and YouTube) and the snot-shaped bubble gum and sherbet that turns your tongue black is proving a hit with the discerning sugar addicts (thank you my utter lack of regard for the dental health of my neighbours’ children).

In total my Halloween efforts have attracted 28 assorted vampires, witches, zombies, werewolves, aliens and some things I couldn’t identify.  It is fairly obvious that I am not the only one that has been embracing the joys of reckless Pritt Stick use, as most costumes are charmingly homemade rather than £9.99 from Asda jobs.  The highlight has been the extremely impressive Spongebob Squarepants costume.  It might not be traditional but wow, a lot of effort went in to that one (rewarded with extra sweeties, of course). 

Trying to stay with the spirit of the Natural Change, I’ve been having a think about what I’ve learned for all this.  So far…

1. Life is better when you let your creativity out to play now and again
2. Occasions to let whimsy and silliness into your life are precious things
3. When opportunities to do something out of the ordinary knock at your door, embrace them (though its probably unwise to take this literally when the opportunity is in the shape of a hedgehog)