Create A Day 365

Anna Grace Smith in Knoxville, Tennessee is doing a project she calls Create A Day 365. She explains, "I am doing one creative thing a day for a year and sharing it on my blog. These creative projects can be arts, crafts, culinary, literary and everything else in between! As long as it takes some creativity to do it, I'm open to it! This project started on my 23rd birthday, February 2, 2011."...


Why did you decide to do this project? I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in October of 2009. Since then, I noticed a lack of motivation in every facet of my life. I had no drive to do anything, and it was affecting my health, my grades in school and my overall well being. This worsened last semester because I was just taking my general education requirements and didn't have the creative outlet of my Interior Design studios anymore. I realized that I had to have some sort of creative outlet to remain sane! I also come from an extremely musical family (My Grandfather was a minister of music and Tenor, Grandmother a Soprano, Aunts and Uncle both voice majors, my mother teachers Horn at a university, and my sister is getting her masters in Horn Performance) and have played the oboe since seventh grade, but since starting college in Fall 2006, I haven't had as much time for it, and now with my Rheumatoid Arthritis, it's really hard for me to play. (It's a lot of weight for my thumb joints and hard to push down keys, not to mention how tight the muscles around your jaw have to be.) I've really missed music in my life, so I needed some way to bring it back, without killing my joints. So I decided why not do a 365 project? It's something I've contemplated for awhile, but not had the time or energy for, but I'm at a point in my life where I'm willing to make time for it. It's also a goal for myself and something for me to push for. Mostly, I just want to prove to myself that I can do it!



How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I just started this project February 2, but I can honestly say that it's already made a huge difference in my life! I can tell that because of this, I have much more focus and drive in every aspect of my daily life than I did before. It has also connected me back to music. My mother even bought me two nice recorders (alto and soprano) that have helped me immensely, and are light and easy on my RA. I'll admit that there are some days when I've been at work all day or whatever that I think, "Ugh, do I have to do a project today?" but every time I pushed through and done something, and each time I find myself really enjoying it in the process and glad that I did it! It's also been a lot of fun coming up with new and creative ideas! I'm so happy that I've started this, and I hope that I can continue to push and reach my year goal!



To see all of Anna's creations visit her site HERE.

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