Thinking about creativity

Years ago, my friend Patty shared something she read in a magazine about how those of us who create things go about our learning paths.  I cannot recall if I've shared this with you before, so if so, forgive me.  It seems like a good time to revisit this, given what I've been doing the last month.

The writer suggested there are two types of creative learners: horizontal and vertical (picture this as a grid, and then imagine all the tangents in between, if you will).  A horizontal learner (that would be moi) starts out learning a new craft with a huge burst of enthusiasm which includes buying all the books on the subject and devouring them.  Next comes buying as many of the tools and supplies as possible because of course, this time this is IT, the love of your life, and you're going to create in this medium until your dying days.  That is, until you slide along that horizontal path a little farther and find the next great thing, and all of a sudden, you are in love all over again...and the story keeps repeating itself.  I think the word dilettante fits in here somewhere; just sayin'.

Then there's the vertical learner.  That person finds a stop along that horizontal line and behaves much the same as the horizontal learner, but with the following exception:  she/he sticks with that craft/art and takes it to heights not visited by Ms. Horizontal.  Worse yet, the vertical learner is most likely to stay with that endeavor and not go flitting off and falling in love with something new every few months/year/couple of years (you pick).

Any of this resonate with you?  I've spent a lot of time thinking about this since I've been back in NM.   I'm trying hard to grasp that at almost 62, perhaps it's time to settle on just a few things and really focus on them instead of adding more to my list and wondering how the heck I'll ever have enough time to do all I want to do.  It's frustrating, because I love learning new things.  It's also getting to be quite burdensome (oh, if you could only see all the "stuff" I have amassed living this la la life of mine).

Do any of you feel this way?

A parting note about the left brain/right brain message...I found this on Judith Dallegret's great rug hooking blog, Just Go Hook It, and she's been kind enough to let me share it with you.  I'll leave you to ponder it with my only comment being that I need to share this with my husband.

LEFT
I am the left BRAIN .I am the scientist.A mathematician.I love the familiar.I categorize.I am accurate.Linear.Analytical.Strategic.I am practical.Always in control.A master of words and language.Realistic.I calculate equations and play with numbers.I am order.I am logic.I know exactly who I am.

RIGHT
I am the RIGHT Brain.
I am creativity.A free spirit.I am passion,Yearning,Sensuality.I am the sound of roaring laughter.I am taste.The feeling of sand beneath bare feet.I am movement and  the urge to paint (or hook a rug )on an empty canvas .I am boundless imagination.Art.Poetry.I sense.I feel.I am everything I wanted to be.