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Every single evening for the past week, as my husband and I walk our dogs, we’ve encountered one of our neighbors sitting outside in her front yard hunched over her computer working on her complex system of Halloween decor.
Ever since we moved in I’ve enjoyed Cheryl’s holiday decorations. She always goes all out, with multiple inflatables, lights, and other decor. A couple of years ago she and her family installed a programmable light system permanently on their house, and every year we enjoy seeing what display she’ll put up.
Her decorations grow increasingly extensive, and increasingly impressive. A projector appeared, mounted on the front of the house in a bare stretch of wall between two windows, where she plays music videos to accompany the soundtrack spectators can hear by tuning into a particular FM radio station, which also synchronizes with the light display. Last year they hired a hydraulic scissor lift to install holiday decorations high on the eaves.
This year I was admiring her newest Halloween edition: five busts on plinths (one of them decapitated), which was what she was outside working on every night. The plan was to sync a second projector with all of the above so that the creepy heads appeared to speak and sing along with the music. But Cheryl couldn’t seem to get it to work the way she intended.
“I’m sure you already thought of this,” I said unhelpfully, “but is there some kind of helpline for the system that can help you troubleshoot why it’s not working?”
Which was when Cheryl told me that this wasn’t some company’s massive collection of holiday decor she kept adding to every year. She was building and creating every single element of it. By hand.
The Work of a Work of Art
I want you to understand the scope of her efforts. Those heads I had been admiring? She didn’t purchase those ready-made. She printed them piecemeal on a 3D printer and painstakingly fitted them together, 16 pieces per head, not counting the plinth. And there was no ready-made program she could plug and play to make the creepy little bastards talk. She had to figure all that out herself too.
Every piece of the other decor was also painstakingly hand-created from scratch, if not by her then by a network of fellow hobbyists she told me all share tips and templates in chat groups. The Halloween-themed playscape was one she had deconstructed and then rebuilt herself, 3D-printing the tombstones for the doorways and adding the lights. The witch’s hats were her innovation too, popped on top of conical frames and lit up from within, all to her specifications.
The scary tree, the spiderwebs and spiders, the bats—all cut out by fellow enthusiasts, and then custom-mounted by Cheryl and hand-lit and synced up to the rest of the choreography. (“How do you sync it up to a radio station?” I asked naively. “Oh, you just get an FM transmitter and a splitter,” Cheryl replied as if it were nothing…like, you know, as one does.)
Every holiday it takes her and her family endless hours to fully install and set up. Her husband and son help out (her teenage daughter claims she’s mortified by the display), and this year many of the evenings we came upon her laboring in her yard over the bulky programming, her dad—an engineer—was huddled over the computer with her to try to help her figure it out.
I listened in awe as Cheryl told me all of this. I can’t get over the time and effort and heart she puts into creating her displays, over and over and over, each of them up for only a few weeks every year.
They delight most of the neighbors. The unveiling of her current masterpiece at every holiday is always a neighborhood event, kids and plenty of adults showing up as soon as dark falls, as if it’s our own community Rockefeller tree. Cars and golf carts and people stream in from other neighborhoods throughout the holiday to check it out.
When it’s all over she does everything in reverse, taking it all down and stashing it before gearing up for the next holiday’s creation.
I can’t imagine putting that kind of work into something so ephemeral. And then I realized how much everything Cheryl is doing reflects the day-to-day realities of a writer’s life.
What Drives Creative Effort?
I asked Cheryl why she went to such Herculean efforts with her decor, and her answer is just about what you would expect: She just loves it. It gives her pleasure: not just the result, but the doing of it, the constant effort to innovate and improve and learn and expand.
She loves how much delight it gives the neighbors too. It’s not like she’s reaching a global audience with it, or even drawing the attention of the local news. It’s just her community, whose holidays are made a little bit brighter thanks to her efforts.
She’s even enjoyed connecting with the robust community of hobbyists who are as invested in it as she is, sharing tips and ideas and suggestions and templates.
Any of this sounding familiar, authors?
Why else do most of us go into writing as a career except for the sheer love of it? Most of us revere story and words and language and the imagination and creativity, and we get to engage in all of that in shaping our own personal creations, just as Cheryl does. Most of us are constantly seeking to expand our knowledge, increase our skills, stretch our abilities and the limits of our imaginations–not just to improve our creative product, but for the sheer pleasure of doing it.
We may go into this field with starry-eyed dreams of international bestseller status, our books and name known to millions (and we may even dream of making millions from it), made into movies, becoming cultural icons and classics.
It doesn’t take long at this business to realize the odds against reaching the highest heights of our field—and yet we persevere.
But it doesn’t take long at this business to realize the odds against reaching the highest heights of our field—and yet we persevere. Even when it’s hard…even when we just can’t figure the damn thing out!…we keep at it.
Eventually those of us who stay in this business, who create and enjoy lifelong creative careers, are those who realize the foundational joy of creating and sharing our work, connecting with people over what we have created—whether that’s millions or thousands or hundreds or even one. My most meaningful moments as an artist, both as an actor and a writer, have been those when I could see that a single individual had been profoundly affected or influenced by what I’d created. That it had brought a fellow human being a moment of illumination.
And just as Cheryl has found the rewards of her community of enthusiasts, the writing community that the most contented of us create around us can be among the great rewards of this career.
Creativity’s Inherent Rewards
Cheryl eventually got the program working the way she wanted it to, and that night she announced the show’s unveiling on our neighborhood Facebook page. At dusk we headed that way, joining other neighbors streaming toward her house. When it was over neighbors burst into applause, and then hung out chatting.
Cheryl saw us hovering at the back of the crowd across the street—our giant dogs are hard to miss—and came over to say hello. She’d come home the day before with a migraine, she said, likely from so little sleep and so much screen time over the past week.
“It must have been so frustrating that it took so long to get everything figured out,” I said to her. “But congratulations on finally doing it.”
“It was worth it,” she said, her face glowing as she watched the neighbors enjoy her handiwork. “And it wasn’t so bad,” she added. “It was kind of fun figuring it all out.”
Read more: “What Is Your Wendy?”
This hit a chord for me too. However hard whatever I’m working on may be, however obdurate and frustrating, I’ve never not been proud and pleased at finally finding the way through—grateful for the challenges that stretched me beyond what I thought I was capable of, and even relishing them, at least after the fact.
Partly I think this is because we tend to value more highly what doesn’t come to us as easily. But I also deeply believe that it’s because the process of this pursuit we all put so much of ourselves into is the truly rewarding and fulfilling part of it. It’s the creative part of a creative career. It’s the journey of those of us who are called to it that’s where the real rewards of our creativity lie.
Authors, tell me your own creative stories. Is there anything besides your writing that you dedicate time and effort to, even when it’s challenging? Does that help you in your writing too?
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28 Comments. Leave new
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Fishing. Trying to find out what they’re biting on (from my zillions of lures-I keep the industry healthy) where they are in different lakes, at different times of the year, weather conditions, moon phases…
All that, and if I’m successful and catch one – I throw it back with my apologies for ruining his day.
But he’ll have a good story for the school, about being abducted by aliens….
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The Real Person!
Ha! Good one. 🙂 Sharon
Ha! I know from other fisher-friends (do you know Sharon Short?) how absorbing it can become, not just meditatively in the keen focus on doing it that fishing seems to entail, but in learning about it, as you point out. And accumulating gear! Fishing is your Wendy…. 😉
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The Real Person!
For sure. I don’t know Sharon, but sounds like I should!
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The Real Person!
I love this so much! I think it makes such a difference in the quality of a person’s life to be super IN to things, no matter what they are. In the last two years, at the beginning of semester classes, rather than asking everyone to share what they like to read or write, I ask them what they’re obsessed with. This question excites them so much more and garners some truly unhinged answers lol. It’s such a great way to get to know what they really care about and who they are.
Oh, what a fantastic question! May I steal it? What a great way to get people thinking about their passions–and how they do them for their own sake, their own intrinsic rewards. That’s such a powerful mind-set to bring to our writing careers. Seriously, I am stealing it. 🙂 (And now I’m curious what wild answers you’ve heard…! People are so unexpectedly fascinating, aren’t they?)
And I think you’re right–having that kind of dedication and absorption in something adds so much to our lives. (Ask my hubs about pickleball, for instance. Or on second thought, don’t…. 😉 )
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of course steal it! (this will make up I’m sure for the 100x I’ve stolen from you) As for what I’ve heard: the Golden Girls, specialty pens, thrift-store ties, Rubik’s cube competitions, Brandon Sanderson books, LOTR cosplay, dog costumes, very specific fan fiction, manicure art, etc etc. It goes on and on. And I write down their answers, because while I’m shit at remembering names, when I can link it to their obsession I can remember who they are and get to know the class more quickly.
I picture you going, “Oh, that’s Chihuahua Dresser…” “There’s Gandolf Garb…” “Ah, yes, Thrift Tie!” in lieu of remembering names… 😉
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I was astonished and delighted to hear about Cheryl’s construction of her Halloween display! Having no mechanical or tech skills, I have new respect for some of the decorations in my own neighborhood. I am a musician, as well as a writer. In a rock and roll band for twenty years, in addition to playing keyboard and tenor sax, I was responsible for blocking out chords and instruments for the cover songs we played. This began before one could google lyrics and chords in the blink of an eye. During early COVID 19, when professional musicians’ livelihoods were decimated, I worked with a harpist and a string bass player to adapt classical music for trio performances in small venues. It was taxing, but incredibly gratifying to blend those instruments and brighten people’s faces in nursing homes, churches, and old-time opera houses! Like the collaboration of authors, the blending of our skills resulted in pieces which gave me goosebumps. The professional artists made a little money, but the rewards of our efforts exceeded my wildest expectations. Thank you for this poignant reminder.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Goosebumps! Yes, that’s it! At such moments you know again what it’s all for.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Hi Tiffany!
Congratulations to Cheryl! What a beautiful display! There’s a house in our neighborhood that does the same set up (lights, decorations, and music from an FM station) for Christmas. My son and I love it and make it a stop on our annual house tour for the holidays.
Outside of writing, I love to create with my hands whether that’s quilting, wool applique, woodworking, or DIY projects around the house. Doing something myself gives me a sense of accomplishment, independence, and belief in myself that I don’t always get from others. And the challenges that always come with any project allow me to use my creativity to find solutions. So, I guess we creatives are always creating. There’s a perseverance that creatives I think naturally possess. It’s like breathing, without the creativity we wouldn’t exist.
I think that’s true–most creative people I know are creative in several different areas. I actually think that creativity is a human instinct–universal to all of us–but it’s shamed or drilled or crowded out of some people’s lives. I love the intrinsic rewards you take from your other creative work–it’s such a great way to remind ourselves of those intrinsic rewards of writing too, which is the foundation and the fuel for a happier writing career. Thanks for sharing!
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Hi Tiffany,
Bravo Cheryll!
At the same time, your whole story reminds me of what a friend of mine told me. He is a painter and makes a living from his work. That is not easy. He says that he does not always get the necessary respect for his work – which he does at least 12 hours a day – because people associate it with a hobby that has grown out of control. Somehow they do not really consider it as work (and that is very bad, here in Belgium 😥). They therefore find it strange that he asks more for his artwork than the costs for paint and canvas.
Creating is something very special, it is indeed work, but it is also more than that. It is something that is difficult to define and is probably only understood by people who do/feel the same.
I wonder–I know not everyone values it as something more than just any other product, but I think about those who love music, or art, or aficionados of any other form of art/creative work, and I do think it’s valued among many. I have original artwork in my house–much of it done by family and friends, and it’s much more to me than decor. And worth paying more for, to me–and I think to those who also value creative work. I think it’s why many people will pay for handmade items than machine-made, for instance.
That said, it’s definitely hard to make a living as a creative! Thanks for the comment, Greet.
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I loved reading about Cheryl’s display–what a wonderful example of creating for the sheer joy of it (and spreading that joy to others, whether it’s one or many)! While I haven’t done much of it lately, I love finding images that inspire me and creating collages with them. I also love putting together photo books (I use Shutterfly). I’ve made books for family and for myself, and it’s always a joy to pull together photos from a trip or an experience and share them in a way that will last.
Those collages and books are such a gift to others, I bet! I do that too–create albums for people of meaningful events or trips–and they’ve been so well received and appreciated. It lets the person enjoy those things all over again. Thanks for sharing this!
The Real Person!
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Cheryl has my admiration. What an extraordinary passion that gives joy to those around her, her only reward appreciation and satisfaction. I just know something special beats in her heart heart.
Outside writing, my amateur love is a combination of hiking and photography. All I have is my iPhone, but that’s enough. I love hiking for its own sake, but I’m passionate about capturing the photos I want, often going off trail to get them, or even scrambling up rocky slopes or through boulder fields (at 65, no less).
I then share one picture each morning on social media and have begun to gain an unexpected following. It brings a smile to my face that I’m able to share my photos from the wilds with those who are unable, for whatever reason. Days ago, I went up Blodgett Canyon and took over a hundred pictures of mountains, spires, beaver ponds, meadows, a marsh, a waterfall, and a cascade.
I use a few of the pictures on my website. Otherwise, some of the locations I’ve found have inspired places in my stories.
By the way, I loved your book, but Amazon has hassled me about reviewing it. Never fear, I will prevail—and soon.
I love this, Christina! I’m going to check out your social media feeds right now. I LOVE the outdoors but don’t get out in it enough, and of course the Austin terrain is just one of many I want to see, so it sounds like your pics let people like me broaden their regular stomping grounds.
Glad you liked Intuitive Author! I wonder why Amazon is hassling you about a review? Anyway, thanks very much for leaving one–they really help with visibility so the book can reach more readers.
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Thanks! I share them at https://writing.exchange/@CA_Hawthorne on Mastodon each morning. I’ve begun considering adding an account on Instagram or somewhere else, but I’ve long resisted that. Maybe.
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Oh, Amazon refused to submit the review, citing a long list of POSSIBLE reasons and told me to edit the review. The link they provided, though, forced me to write a new one, which I did. That review, though, seems to have fallen into a black hole.
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I’ve heard of this happening more and more lately- people’s Amazon reviews being rejected for no apparent reason. One author I know who does a lot of reviews is having hers rejected at a rate of about 40%. I suspect Amazon has hired a new bot to look for fake reviews, and the AI isn’t very I. yet.
That’s so irritating–I’m sorry. Thanks for continuing to try!
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Besides writing, I love to make things in lots of other media. I cook and bake, putting my own twist on recipes, finding creative ways to use what’s in season, and sending out huge boxes of Christmas cookies to the folks on my nice list every December. I build props and sets for schools and small local theaters, I do needlework and crochet, grow and dry flowers to make arrangements, make Shutterfly books and social media reels… All of these carry their own challenges and frustrations, from recipes that flop to crop failures to tedious prep work, but I couldn’t stop if I tried. It’s like an itch that has to be scratched.
Probably my most satisfying creative acts were designing educational curricula, when I was a classroom teacher and an educational consultant, and then when I homeschooled my own kids. That meeting of the minds, when I’ve understood the starting point of the student and then brought all my skill and experience to craft activities that evoke a particular reaction in them, feels the most similar to what I’m trying to learn to do as a writer.
I agree with you that we all have the natural urge to create, but our capitalistic culture pushes us to become passive consumers of corporate “creativity” instead. Boo! Let’s wave our fishing rods and paint brushes and trowels in protest, turn off our screens, and go make things like Cheryl!
Wow, Heather, you’re very creative in so many ways. I love that you found your educational work to be creative and satisfying–I feel the same way about my editing work, and teaching.
I wish we *would* all dedicate ourselves more to creativity. It’s so wonderfully human and peaceful, meditative and satisfying and connecting. I so wish society valued creativity–and creators–more. Thanks for sharing!
The Real Person!
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Hey. Great post; thank you. Why anything is a great question.
I designed and built theatre scenery for academic and community theatre. (Can’t help bragging: One small and ancient Broadway credit.) ‘Created the arena in which some of the greatest English literature came to life.
I also created Christmas decorations. Nothing on Cheryl’s scale, she sounds like the Cecil B. DeMille of holiday decoration, but something different every year. When the kids were little, they ‘helped.’ That was the best part. I loved working with wood and made trains and trucks and dolls for my kids. I also took out an old kitchen and put in a new one on my “vacation” one year. Talk about sense of accomplishment!
My first drafts live up to Ernest Hemingway’s description. I have to excavate to find the story. But after digging through all that, there’s a transformative moment when I say to myself, “Damn, there IS a story in here!”
‘Next job is to make it shine.
Why anything indeed, Bob–you’re right, it’s worth asking of most any pursuit.
I AM very impressed with your Broadway credit, as a former actor myself! And with your kitchen construction. I do love projects like that around the house–I get pleasure every time I see or use them.
It seems to me that you’re right about finding the story. That’s one reason I love the editing and revision process so much. Drafting gets you the gold mine…but it’s editing and revision that brings up all the precious stuff. I always say it’s where the real work–and art–of writing is, and the magic. Thanks for the comment!
The Real Person!
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Love Cheryl does this – and just think you got to create additional creative work off the back of her creation! We all inspire each other when we make a start with our passions. Thanks for sharing.
Ah–you’re right, Syl! I didn’t even think of how Cheryl’s work was sparking my own. There are so many levels of impact in sharing our work. Thanks for pointing it out.