Marisa – Cooper City, Florida

The 4 Chicks would like to thank Marisa for sharing her moving personal story, the first of hopefully many great Chick Stories from our readers as we walk down the path of artists together.

I grew up in a very artistic family.  My siblings and I were always encouraged to follow our creative paths wherever they may lead.  As a child I would spend hours coloring with crayons sketching pictures of animals and scary monsters and reading Nancy Drew mysteries.  My mom and grandmother taught me how to sew and crochet.  As a teenager, my mind opened up to poetry and I began writing my own poems.  In those moments of creativity all other thinking ceased.  I was just “doing”, not thinking.  I was truly in living in the moment.  I treasured these moments and craved them.

I grew up, bought a house, had kids and worked full time.  Those precious creative moments that I lived for were fleeting; my mind became stale and I was always feeling like I was searching for something more.  I read every spare moment I could.  I took up scrapbooking and created albums of my children’s milestones.  Something was still missing.  I felt like I was walking aimlessly through life.

Five and a half years ago, I decided to battle my addiction to cigarettes.  Someone told me to keep my hands busy and it would be easier.  I impulsively signed up for a knitting class.  I mean what better way to keep your hands busy than holding two sticks and some yarn.  I attended my first class and immediately thought what the heck am I doing here?  Really?  Knitting?  Isn’t that for grandmas?  From my first cast on stitch to finishing my first real project, I felt like that proverbial butterfly emerging from its cocoon.  I felt energized like back when I was a kid being in that “moment”.  I found a knitting group and an amazing bunch of women where we can use this time for creativity and lots of laughs.

I still have the day to day stressors in my life but knitting is my solace, my meditation, the one place where I can be in the present moment.  As a bonus from knitting, I felt my love of poetry coming back and I even wrote a poem.  I am grateful for my addiction, because it led me to my creative bliss.

It is never too early or too late to follow your creative path wherever it may lead you.