Create Your Happiness

Can you do me a favor? I promise it won’t take very long, just a few seconds, probably. Can you thumb through that filing cabinet of memories you have in your head and think back to that one question everyone asks that makes you roll your eyes? Everyone has at least one. You’re lying if you say you don’t. Whether it comes from a mother, grandma, aunt, teacher, you name it. There is always one question you hear over and over again that makes you sigh, or huff under your breath. For me that person was my mom, and that question was always, “why don’t you just pick one hobby, and focus on that one?” To which I would sigh, huff under my breath, and reply, “No. I can’t do that.”

You see, I am what they tend to refer to as a “jack of all trades.” That sounds pretty great, right? Who wouldn’t want to be good at everything? Well, it sounds great in theory, before you add the rest of the expression, “master of none.” Which basically always boils down to the fact that I’m good at everything, but not great at anything. As you can imagine this sounds pretty frustrating. You know that feeling when you see someone out there doing the thing that you love to do, and they’re better, or younger, or prettier/more handsome than you? Your heart just sinks. That’s me with anything I do, so I have to do everything.

As a creative person, I cannot consume media in a normal way. I’m sure any creative person can relate. Every movie, every song, every work of art I see, or book I read, fills me with this suffocating desire inside me. That desire is the urge to create. All that energy has to go somewhere, and to a painter, it’s turned into a new painting. To a singer, it’s a new song. For me, that creative urge explodes like a water balloon filled with every color paint under the rainbow. I have to do everything. When I watch a movie, I will fall in love with a character. I express that love by sewing a costume. Cosplay is liberating, because you get the chance to be someone totally different for a little bit of time. You get to forget who you are, and forget all your problems. Then there are the props that go with the costume. There is painting, and sewing, and carving, and even writing and hair styling to be done. All these things combined for me to express my creative urge. And what do all of these things have in common?

Scissors.

Scissors? You repeat in your mind confused. This is where I lost you. You were following along perfectly fine and just as you thought we were on the same page, I threw you for a loop. Just let me explain, and I promise that you’ll see. Now, scissors are the very staple of creativity. Just as red, blue, and yellow, are the primary colors, scissors are the primary tool for creativity. Look around you. Every book, every toy, every plate, or even your phone has had to be designed by someone. Anything you can possibly create probably has been involved with scissors at some point in time. I should know, remember? I do everything. If you want to create a dress: scissors cut out the pattern, cut out the fabric, cut the thread, and you have a dress. A best friend wants to fold one thousand paper cranes for a sick friend in the hospital to get a wish: every piece could be cut down to that traditional origami base square sheet of paper, or they come pre-cut to that shape. You want to make a card? You will need to cut something to create a custom envelope. Every prop weapon I’ve made has required a stencil, or a pattern I’ve had to cut, with my scissors. Even when I style the wigs to go along with my costumes, something has to cut the hair. The average number of hairs on a human head is 100,000 and every time you get a haircut, that trusty staple of creativity we call scissors has to come in contact with every single one. Amazing, isn’t it? How can just a small pair of scissors be so great and so perfect for so many things? In many ways you can call scissors the jack-of-all-trades of tools. Is there a better tool to open a tube of super glue when it’s stuck? Yes, but I use my scissors. Is there a better tool to cut a picture out so the lines are perfectly straight and not crooked? Yes, but I use my scissors. Is there a better tool to sharpen a colored pencil to get the smallest sharpest point? Yes, but I use my scissors. And so does everyone. Everyone uses their scissors for everything, which is what makes them so wonderful. They’re the only tool I have three of. They’re the only tool I always have near me. They’re the only tool I get mad when I can’t find, because I don’t want to use anything else. I just want scissors.

So see, mom? Being a jack-of-all-trades isn’t a very bad thing. I can’t imagine a world without scissors, just as I can’t imagine a world without all of my hobbies. So no, I can’t just “focus on one,” and nobody should. Everyone should be a little more like a pair of scissors.