The great thing about being artistically inclined is an inherent eye for fun. The creative person can take a normally boring object and tweak it until it becomes an invitation to linger.



It’s less about generating smiles or a sense of awe as much as it is about self expression.

Requiring a fair amount of self confidence or a blatant lack of concern for the finger wagging of others, the person who creates does so out of necessity. It’s only after the completion of a project, simple or complex, does all feel right with the world.

  An entry gate. A house for rent. Both in Delray's Historic District.

From the dawn of time, conflicts of one sort or another have made their way into the universal consciousness.  Trends and issues spike then fade from view. What remains are the creative expressions of a people. Whether paintings, sculptures, architecture, or the written word, these are the true measure of a people both as individuals and en masse.

And while the works of the masters will live on through eternity, art and creativity are not mutually exclusive. Blurring the lines between the two may send the purest into a tizzy, but it matters less the level of skill as does the desire to create in the first place.

In another life I was a stained glass artisan.

Creative expression is the voice by which we share our hearts. Many years ago I was a stained glass artisan working in abstract expression. With no distinguishable or recognizable designs, people viewing my pieces would be intuitively drawn to the piece which resonated in their heart as it first had in mine. I could always tell where people were in their lives by which pieces they chose as their favorite. This holds true even now with the Pug adventures.

Originally created on a whim while in Key West one winter, the Pug adventures morphed into a writing exercise and eventually became a book. The illustrations are secondary to the writing. They are simple line drawings, somewhat primitive, and yet a necessary part of the story as a whole. Are they art? That’s debatable. But what they are is creative, proving that even those with limited skills can bring into being a heart’s expression.

The new Pug At The Beach book.

My invitation to you is as follows: make your life your canvas, your work of art. Take the simple and ordinary things around you and turn them into creative expressions of who you are or what you strive to become. Be less concerned about how they will be received as how you’ll feel when you’re finished.

Look around you right now. Choose one thing and contemplate what you would do to or with it to make it more creative or fun. That simple act, just thinking about it, is creativity in itself and a bit of fun to boot.


You can do it! These folks glued a metal lizard to their mailbox.

Make it a beach day, whatever that looks like for you!

Copyright 2009 Diana Taylor, Pug At The Beach
Photo credit: Diana Taylor, In And Around Delray’s Historic District

Pug At The Beach ~ Where mindful living meets artful play through the adventures of a small island dog philosopher named Pug. He’s the Dalai Lama and Jimmy Buffett combined.

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