Question du Jour

Fashion. Archuitecture. Art History. Photography. Interior Design. Creative Writing. At one point in my life, most likely high school when (unlike most of my peers) I believed I was capable of anything, I was constantly using some form of artistic expression as a source of enterntainment. I think I had a knack for it. Once, I free-handed a picture of Ursula from the Little Mermaid, it was a perfect likeness. I still have it.

I was enough of an average-achiever in college to only do what was required to graduate, I lived the "College has too much to offer to waste it in the classroom" creed so fully that I lost all track of hobbies or talents. My talent became academic bulemia, the binging and purging of information, and rapid fire papers. The culmination of these talents occured with a 50 page paper on Charles de Gaulle researched and written in less than 24 hours. I got an A- and slept through the following two days.

Now I want to be creative again. Inherently it seems stating you want to be creative makes the achievement thereof unlikely. Doesn't creativity occur spontaneously? What venue/medium do I want to use as my "outlet"?

Trading Spaces made everyone and their dog think they were interior designers (I believe sponged walls will be the decorative stamp of the turn of the millenia...what a mark!), blogs allow joe schmoe (and myself) to fancy ourselves essayists, photo shop allows an unsteady hand with no eye for lighting to alter a picture's composition, and generic scrapbookers are creating artistic masterpieces with mass produced stickers and decorative papers. So what is left for me, a self described elitist, to create which the masses are not yet attempting? Fashion.

So, the question is, should I take courses in fashion while in Paris? I love clothes. I L-O-V-E love them. Even more, I love beautiful, well made clothes with a touch of individuality and on the edge of current trends. I went to Philadelphia this weekend just to see Princess Grace's wedding dress and spent twice as much time inspecting the gown, brides maid dress, flower girl dress, and four additional pieces from the 50s, than I did wandering the halls of the European Artists circa 1850-1900. Is this my new path for channeling creativity? Could I do it? And could I do it well?

But most importantly, would I love it?