Things I Suck At

I know the title is a little harsh, but I thought it might intrigue people more than "things that I'm not very to mildly competent at."

I mentioned that I had an awesome conversation with my sister Melissa the other day about creativity. She mentioned a project that she'd read about, and I hope she doesn't mind my "stealing" the concept, of trying to do something creative every day, even if it's not something you're good at. I love this concept. First off, that means the world is my oyster, because there are plenty of creative things I'm not good at - like drawing anything more than stick figures (or even non-distorted stick figures, for that matter). Furthermore, it makes it "ok" - and why wouldn't it be unless you are trying to do it for a living - to take on activities and hobbies that you're not great at. If you love it, so what! And maybe you'll realize that you don't love it, but that's ok too. You can't enjoy and/or be good at everything.

I decided to start compiling a list of things I am not very good at, or haven't been in the past, that I want to try, for at least a day. Here is the start of that list. I plan to add things as I go along and discover my other non-talents.

• Knitting. I'm not good at knitting. My best friend generously sent me a whole knitting kit complete with instructional video, and I got stuck 15 minutes into it. I don't have good hand-eye coordination and I feel knitting may require this. Still, so many people that I know enjoy this, I thought I might try.

• Drawing. Now as I mentioned, I KNOW I am not artistic in this realm, at all. But I'm curious to try this in an "art therapy" sort of way - take pen (or more likely multi-colored sharpies because it's the only colorful drawing option I have) and see what comes out. I'm completely curious as to what I would draw. Or attempt to as the case will be. 

• Cooking outside the box. I enjoy cooking easy recipes when I get used to them. I get nervous cooking new recipes or trying something different. When I see "egg" on the ingredient list, I run the other direction. I'm not sure why. I think that for me it transitions it from "easy pretend cooking" to "real cooking" and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. 

• Flower arranging. Ok I realize this is an odd one. I never have flowers in my apartment, except the orchid I killed by turning off the A/C when I went on vacation for a week, but I'd love to have them. I'm interested in finding a place where I can buy various types of flowers an put them into a bouquet or two in my apartment. I love color and designing things and I think this would be fun. 

• Poetry. When I was little I think I had a poem here or there "published" in children's magazine, though in fairness one of them was the one that my dad used to produce. As I've gotten older, I've written very little (read: no) poetry. I think I'm afraid that it will be cheesy, or predictable, or something. But I'd love to try again. 

• Photography. I don't suck at photography, but I use it quite literally and I pretty much set it on auto, or use one of the pre-created "scene" settings. I need to take my camera out for a walk and learn the other settings, and how to really use it so that when I'm traveling I don't miss a great picture because I'm spending 15 minutes trying to set it correctly. 

• Fashion creation. I would love to be a fashion designer in my spare time (along with my other 20 side careers that I'd like!). Which I know is probably comical to people that know me because my general wardrobe when I'm out consists of a sundress in the summer, jeans and a basic top in the winter, and clothes that I wouldn't want to be caught on candid camera in when home.  Pinterest, though, is great for fashion ideas, and I'd love to spend more time creating outfits (from my closet unless I find the cash for a shopping spree miraculously) that fit my personality and don't simpy fit into the "yeah this is clean and doesn't require ironing, it's a go" category. I'd even love to, with my bad drawing skills, sketch up some mock outfits of things I'd create if I had the resources. 

I'm not sure when I'm going to get to all of this, but I'm going to give it a try. I'm sure as I start to work these into my week, I'll discover other things I'd like to do as well. 

What are some things you might not be great at - or think you aren't, or haven't tried yet - but would love to do anyways?