Willy NIlly

My sister and I are on the quest to improve ourselves, our lives and to increase creativity and productivity. During one of our laughing, cracking up conversations about how to free our inner child which in turn would free up the creative parts of our brains, I suggested finger painting.  My Dad went to a workshop for counselors years ago and had finger painted. He reported that this activity would pan out in the creative genre.  Nanc suggested that we do some activities differently than the way we normally do.  She said that sometimes that releases a block.  We decided to load the dishwasher differently.  We also agreed to finger paint.  And I also added that I would load my grocery cart differently than normally since she had already done that.

Okay, willy nilly is not in my vocabulary except under the pretext of yelling, "You don't just do something willy nilly!" or the also yelling, "What the heck! Are you just trying to do that willy nilly?"  Both negative.  Both against the grain. 

The first task I undertook was to load the grocery cart "willy nilly."  Oh, wow!  I discovered that I am not only VERY particular about loading my cart, but I also have grocery cart pride.  I realized that when I just threw something in the basket, I would look around and see if anyone had seen me.  Then as I passed other neatly arranged carts, I would hang my head in shame because of the mess my cart was in.  I quickly made it through the grocery, through the check out, loading my bags neatly and far from willy nilly and exited the store vowing that was a once and only once challenge!

My second task was to load the dishwasher willy nilly. Okay! There is a right way of loading a dishwasher.  No offense, Sharon, you and your playful inner child do it wrong.  Everything is supposed to be in neat little rows with like items, all forks in the same carriage slot, glasses tall to short, glass to plastic.  Seriously.  There is only one right way.  To do it any other way, for me, is work.  Work, work, work.  I had to concentrate on every item to make sure I put each one in willy nilly.  It took me three, maybe four, times as long to load the dishwasher.  What's with that?  Okay that task completed.

The third task was to finger paint.  I decided to do it with my grandchildren on Thursday; however, I had a change of heart when I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't going to be able to let even a finger on the hand of my inner child out to play if I was supervising kids with finger paint at the same time.  So I finger painted by myself on Wednesday.  I loved it.  I made the prettiest picture, everything in it's place, not artistic in the least, for the first one.  Then I let ago a little at a time until I was able to get both hands in it, getting up to my elbows, my nose may have even been stuck where it didn't belong a time or two.  I was a mess.

I don't know if I freed my inner child any, but I learned a couple of things.  I still don't do willy nilly in areas where I am very organized and have learned the best way to do something.  But I love to get messy, too.  We will have to see as the blogs continue, if they continue, how creative I become, right?

On two side notes: I finger painted on Thursday with my grandkids and it bugged me when they weren't getting messy enough and then I had a heart attack when they did!  Also, my husband, Jerry William, says he's not sure he likes the way I use WILLY nilly negatively all the time.  He thinks it's offensive.  Good grief.