In the Midst of Chaos Lies Creativity

Has there ever been a saying that rings more true? I don’t know about you, but 2020 was one of the craziest and most chaotic years of my life.  Oddly, though it was hard and awful and ugly…. I appreciate it for what it was to me.

You may ask, how can you appreciate something that was so terrible? Well for me, it’s all about silver linings. My only option was to try to find the good within the bad.

Fall 2019, when life was still “normal”, my husband, Trey, and I decided to jump into a very large home remodel/ build project (which I plan to share all of the details on this project in the near future).  We knew it would take us upwards of a year to remodel/rebuild, but we were so excited to create our dream home.

So in October 2019, we gutted a 1950’s home down to the studs.  Our four kids were also along for the ride.  They loved ripping drywall down and pulling staples out of subfloor where the carpet pad had once been.

Three months into our remodel project, a 4,000 square foot commercial space next to our current 12,000 square-foot child care center, was coming up for lease.  I looked at my husband, as I had been dreaming of expanding/ opening a new program for strictly school-aged children, and told him, “I know this is not ideal timing, but we need to jump on this opportunity, otherwise, the opportunity will pass us by.”  Two months into adding that project onto our plates COVID-19 arrives in the United States.  

COVID-19 and the chaos it brought to our work lives was like taking on another full-time job, I swear.  March 13, 2020, we had to call and tell families that, per the governor’s orders, we were only allowed to provide care to kids of “essential workers,” and it may go down in history as one of the worst days of my life.  I know that sounds dramatic, but you truly have no idea. The anger, frustration, confusion, and sadness, that parents expressed was unbelievable, but unavoidable. I felt like the Earth was shattering around me. 

So when my once, very enjoyable career, suddenly turns grim and every day was a serious undertaking of making sure this unknown virus did not make its way into our center to pose any harm to the children we cared for or to any of the staff we employed, my heart yearned for something more.  I suddenly felt this extreme desire to create.  It was a stir for something exciting that I had not felt I ever needed so badly in my life. 

See, before marriage, business, and kids I did a lot of creative things.  I loved scrapbooking, creating online albums, taking pictures, etc. But, honestly, developing and running two businesses always fulfilled my creative niche enough! Developing programs, designing and decorating classrooms— those are all creative things that I get to do. I can say, though, that I had not ever been placed in this magnitude of chaos— truly so many things being completely and utterly out of my control.  

So there was the birth of many large projects. Through the COVID-19 shutdown, we built the most beautiful home (I can’t wait to share it with you soon). We created a brand new 5-classroom business for school-aged kids. Yes, somehow, my heart still ached for more — something new, something more personal — something that would allow me to share my stories, experiences, love for life, hope, motivation, and laughter with others.  A calling, if you will.  Why would a woman like myself yearn to take on a project that could be time-consuming, when time is of the essence for me? The only thing I can come up with is, because in the midst of chaos, lies creativity.

I have so much I want to share with you.  I am so excited to start this new platform for myself and others. I hope my writing not only serves as a therapeutic practice for me but most importantly, I hope my blogs serve you.  More than anything, I hope you find my blogs relatable, motivating, and at times funny. I am here for you. We are in this crazy world together! Keep your chin up and smile, because today is not just another day. It is a new opportunity. Another chance. A new beginning. Embrace it!

– Maria