all of that sad paperwork became easy to manage. Not a handicraft, but still a handcrafted gift to his family.
So there might be a serious, practical motivation for your creativity. Whether you want to— or need to— make something, whether there are steps to plan or mistakes to fix, a project might also feed your soul. Suddenly you feel less stress and more joy. You seize a precious chance for alone time or an opportunity to create in the company of others. You take your mind off a vexing problem and— stepping away from it to work on your project— solve it! You take pride in your accomplishment and then use it, give it away, or even sell it.
And we are all lucky to have others’ creations all around us. I listen to music in the car. I restlessly await the next episode in a TV series. I hang pictures on the wall. These creators have enriched my leisure time and my living space.
And this sense of enrichment extends beyond my house and car. I recently attended a Ron Sexsmith concert( playing Gordon Lightfoot!), a play about consumerism, and a dance show filled with Caribbean rhythms. I perused paintings on display. I admired the gorgeous exterior of Calgary’ s redesigned Glenbow Museum. Sometimes it’ s fun to experience something familiar; other times I’ m looking for something new— and then enjoy discussing it with folks afterwards:“ What did you think?”
In Calgary we have an extraordinarily controversial piece of public art called Travelling Light but known to locals as“ the blue ring.” It’ s a streetlight on an overpass, and it happens to be a big, hollow circle. People love it or loathe it. My former city councillor, Peter Demong, once said that he didn’ t like it, but he was astounded by the conversations that it provoked, and, for that reason, he thought it held value.
Books, performances, visual art, other creative projects inside my home or out in the big world— they all tell stories. I might like them, or not. I might understand them, or not. They might be worth my time and money, or not. I used to ask my students about books that we read:“ How does this connect to your life, to other stories, to the world?”
To me, creative pursuits mix self-expression and communication with skill and talent. And maybe they’ re simply an invigorating or relaxing way to spend your time, as the maker or as the audience.
Sheila Bean, a retired teacher, creates by typing one word after another.
Road trip
Wait. Did I mention artificial intelligence? How does that skew originality and imagination? That, too, might provoke conversations and, for that reason, hold value.
SUMMER 2026 | 29