HUM 6353 Final Creative Post

Is it really over?

This course seems to have gone by much more quickly than the previous courses. And what's more is that it is hard to believe a year has gone by. We must have been having fun because it truly went by in a blink of the eye.

It has been an incredible year filled with so many new experiences. I have grown so much because of the course work but also because of the experience of working with patients. Having met so many who were in the battle of their lives has changed my whole being. It has enabled me to care from a place I never knew existed until now. I am so glad to have embarked on this adventure and am really looking forward to the coming year.

I had started a blog a few years back as a way to promote my artwork but lost interest or was too busy or something. Having a regular assignment to write and create has always been helpful in motivating me to do something I love. It has always been a mystery to me why I am more likely to be creative when I have an assignment to do so. It seems that I am very bad at saying no to all the other things that demand my time and attention and very good at putting my creative activities last.

Having the assignment to create and write yet having the freedom to do it my way has been great. This method of management has always worked best for me. I know I need a little push to get going but I absolutely hate being told how and when to do something.

Throughout the first year, the creative blog has evolved from the taking a line for a walk to self portraits to discovering the things that make me go Ahh. It has included drawings, collages and mixed media, poetry, photography and prose. Having a creative blog is an important place to record what is going on in my world and I am glad that it has been a requirement. I am hoping that it will be something that I continue to do for a long time.

As always, I am a procrastinator, so of course writing a blog that has a deadline is stressful to me. And I am always relieved when the post is submitted in time. What I like about it is that it gives me a record of my thoughts and creative expressions that don't necessarily have to be shared with anyone unless I chose to allow them in.

It is important to have a creative practice no matter what it is that you actually do. I have many methods of creativity, working in pencil, watercolor, acrylic, collage and mixed media. I like to write and do poetry. I can be very philosophical, too. It doesn't really matter what you do as long as you do something, as long as you express your inner self in some way or another.

I hope that the enclosed slide show will express my joy in being a University of Florida student, along with the pride I feel in sharing the arts with my patients, their families and our clinical staff.