Everyone is born with creativity. But those people who appear to be super creative have a secret. They know that creativity has to be developed and exercised to come easily. I am on a quest to immerse myself in creativity of all kinds. I hope you will join me!

This post is an assignment from the Blogging Your Way class I am taking right now. It was assigned by the clever teacher, Holly Becker, who writes the amazing decor8.

One of the biggest things I have learned so far is about the kind of blogs that I like to read myself. I like to get to know the blog author, get a feel for her personality, and what drives her. The author is a huge part of the blog, right?

And that is interesting since I don't naturally divulge much personal stuff about myself. Now, knowing that it will help me to build community with all of you, I offer this for some insight into what makes me tick: Five things not many people know about me. I will also explore how the knowledge I gained from those experiences has remained with me.

Feel free to laugh. I have done some crazy things in my life.

1.  Won a reading contest.  Before first grade. I learned a love of reading and learning that is a part of me to this day. Maybe it is a reason that I have to be constantly learning, and am curious about a variety of things.

2.  Stripped on stage. Immediately out of college, I took the role of Gypsy Rose Lee at the Bay CIty Players, a community theater. I did have to take clothes off on stage while singing, but come on folks, it was Bay City Michigan, midwest USA.  They gave me a flesh colored leotard to wear so everything could remain G rated.

During that show, I learned that while sometimes the success of a project depends on you, it is really not all about you.  I sprained my ankle in a big way in rehearsals and strained my voice singing songs too high for my range.  It was my responsibility to take care of myself since I had the main role with the most stage time. So, when everyone else went out after rehearsal every night, I went home to rest, drink tea, and ice my ankle.

On opening night, the director took me aside to let me know that inadvertently, my name had been left out of the program!  On me, but not about me.  All in all, it was one of the most fun experiences of my life.

3.  Delivered singing, tap dancing telegrams. After college, right after I moved far from home and I was trying to find direction, I tried it. It was humbling because I looked and acted ridiculous. They made me dress like cupid on Valentine's Day, diaper and all.  But, it was the first unstructured job I ever had and I learned to focus and take care of business without a supervisor. I have worked freelance more than once in my life because I knew I could do it after that early experience.

Do they still do those things??

4.  Built an airplane.  The biggest craft project ever! I worked with my aviation engineer husband, so it was done correctly and for real. Turned out I was a great fiberglass man and I did the majority of it.  I have not done fiberglassing since, but it did give me confidence about trying new things that seem too ridiculously huge to accomplish.

5.  Roofed my studio. Yeah, it was awful. I have big respect for people who do that for a living.  My take-away? Just because you can, does not necessarily mean you should. Choose what you take on by weighing time, effort, satisfaction, and end result. I thought saving money was wise but the time I spent up on my roof would have been way better spent doing something else. For me, it was tedious and boring, and I wrecked two pairs of jeans and a pair of shoes. I will never roof again. It is OK to say no way Jose if the project is not right for you.

Now it is your time to share. Tell me something crazy you did in your life and what lesson you learned from it that remains with you.  I look forward to getting to know you a bit too!

Take Your Vitamin C!