This year I reclaimed my creativity

Dublin, Ohio, U.S.A. – The past year has been good to me, even when it hasn’t. I can only hope for as wonderful a year in 2020.

When I was younger – seven, eight and nine years old – I had the most wonderful neighbors: Bob and Dianne.

Dianne taught me to paint and draw and Bob and I made (blunted) wooden swords together. Later, we’d reenact skits of dragon and heroines. They fostered an imagination I all but forgot in the years that followed – until this year.

Not without reason, I didn’t have the time to create, dream, and imagine. I was instead frantically focused on finding answers to my anxieties.

I wanted to delineate right from wrong for myself; I wanted a solid system of ethics.  So I took courses at Columbus State University in the summer and found books on my own to read. I read and read and read.

Finally, early in 2019, I came up with a system of ethics I was happy with. I also grew to grapple better with uncertainty and hardship.

Since then, I’ve been able to ease up and ease back into art. I paint pictures, draw portraits, and write poetry. I’ve even started learning violin.

I paint abstract portraits of friends and family. I write poems on that which I find beautiful. I’ve also branched from a delineation of ethics to one of aesthetics.

This is what 2019 has given me: a better appreciation of hardship, learning and beauty. I’ve slowly learned to love every part of life, even those that might not be that great.

I can only hope 2020 is as beautiful. I’d love to grow and learn more. I’d love to bake more and create more. Here’s to another wonderful year!

Danish Bajwa is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.