By Ciara Salinas

This summer I tapped into my inner whimsy. Yes, I know that word has been used one too many times, but I did spend my summer challenging myself to do at least one creative or whimsical thing a day. I always loved crafting. Creating scenes and dollhouses for my dolls when I was a young girl brought a sort of comfort, and I thought, “What better way to honor my little self than to create miniatures that reflect my interests?”

The first project I crafted was a theater inspired by one of my favorite movies, “Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart,” and by Dark Cabaret elements. The whole project was built in a span of two months. Most of the time I spent searching for used materials I found around the house: cardboard, wire, paint and random scattered items. Although that time was tedious, it forced me to be patient and not impulse buy on Amazon or Target. I think with everything being so fast-paced and creativity being replaced with cheap purchases, this project has allowed me to use my imagination to make materials that are broken or ugly into something imperfectly beautiful.

My DIY theater, which truly tested my patience, was crafted with old items lying around.

The second (and final) project I made was a small tower inspired by fairytales and Italian architecture. Again, I used materials lying around. This time the structure of my DIY was crafted in a span of three days. While it didn’t test my patience, it did make me realize how comforting and beneficial it is to take time away from the screen and focus on one task for a long period of time. 

Looking around, it’s hard not to notice how much screens keep people distracted from the beauty around them. As cheesy as it sounds, this project altered my daily routine. When I am doing monotonous tasks, I now challenge myself to focus on that particular thing, no music or background noise. This has helped my attention span and, most importantly, has left me wanting to observe the world around me in silence when I am done with said task for inspiration.  And over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed so many miraculous things that have been the source of my creative ideas. 

Although my summer wasn’t spent doing academically beneficial work, I believe I gained something better: my creativity. I found myself going back to crafting or looking at the world around me for comfort whenever I felt overwhelmed or confused with my life. I hope that whenever I feel stumped this semester, I look back at how I spent my summer and use the creative tools I developed.