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Love this: midlife is “when the Universe grabs your shoulders and tells you, “I’m not f-ing around; use the gifts you were given.” That's totally what happened to me. It's a now or never situation. I think our parents of a generation when creative pursuits were not considered "jobs" and that probably led to a lot of unhappiness and a lack of fulfillment in their lives. I'm so glad your dad finally came around! :)

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Apr 2Liked by Nancy Norbeck

Nancy - Thank you for this post. I found it incredibly inspiring. As I started reading, memories popped up - of taking on small artistic projects for no reason AND of the sense of joy and self-expression that conjured up. It also reminded me that all I have to do, today, to reAwaken this, is to put down the "in order to" and pick up the glue stick or crayon. xo

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You’re so welcome, Monica—and yes, isn’t it interesting how quickly the memories comes back once we let them? I can’t wait to see what comes out of that glue stick/crayon! 😊

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My son (16) just discovered a piece he wrote in the fifth grade. He said, surprised, "I was pretty creative." I said, "Still are, in there somewhere." He's already a lapsed creative. Restacking this article!

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Apr 2·edited Apr 2Author

I love this! It’s amazing how quickly we lose touch with ourselves this way, but it’s also amazing to see what happens when we go looking for it again. 😁

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Right? Now I just have to restrain the urge to try to make him look for it right away. 😂

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I wonder if he's curious about it. If he is, you won't need to make him do anything. You might be able to seed that with a couple questions. 😉

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