{"id":29934,"date":"2025-10-24T03:00:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T10:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=29934"},"modified":"2025-10-21T05:03:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T12:03:50","slug":"take-up-space-art-creative-and-life-in-the-second-act-by-catharine-bramkamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/24\/take-up-space-art-creative-and-life-in-the-second-act-by-catharine-bramkamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Up Space Art, Creative and Life in the Second Act by Catharine Bramkamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Take<\/a>Let\u2019s welcome back monthly columnist Catharine Bramkamp<\/a> as she shares with us \u201cTake Up Space Art, Creative and Life in the Second Act.\u201d Enjoy!<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Another Book on Creativity?<\/h2>\n

There are many books on Creativity, I know because I own at least 50% of the current editions.<\/p>\n

From Julia Cameron to<\/strong> The Work of Art<\/i><\/a>\u00a0to The Creative Act<\/i><\/a>\u00a0to Big Magic<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why another one?<\/p>\n

Like all art, we create through our own lens and our own personality.<\/p>\n

Take Up Space<\/i> is written in the voice of that good friend who compulsively delivers helpful unsolicited advice.<\/p>\n

She will tell you to begin<\/strong> doing instead of consuming.<\/p>\n

She will suggest that you use your art practice to\u00a0take up space.<\/p>\n

And she will cheer you on every step of the way.<\/p>\n

When Art Becomes Too Serious<\/h2>\n

I have found that most\u00a0advice about art and creativity is sincere and quite serious.<\/p>\n

As the sincere book chapters unfold<\/strong>, the advice begins to\u00a0teeter precariously on the edge of\u00a0a didactic\u00a0cliff littered with sharp pontifications and good intentions which you can later use to make a road.<\/p>\n

Except for the book —Trickster Makes this World<\/i><\/a>,<\/i> few creativity books admit that art is not only fun but also subversive.<\/p>\n

Art is the Trickster best illustrated by our own\u00a0Wile E Coyote, a trickster who only accepts the reality of his ACME trampoline\/rocket shoes after it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

But what a ride.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s Not Too Late to Take Up Space<\/h2>\n

Is it too late?<\/p>\n

In our second act<\/strong>, there are a few activities and accomplishments that do not qualify as\u00a0do-overs:<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t make a set of new improved children, it\u2019s too late to meet the right Freshman dorm-mate who will\u00a0later become amazingly influential and lend you a hand in gratitude for all those nights you held her hair.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possibly too<\/strong> late for a bikini.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not too late to take up space.<\/p>\n

Redefining Yourself in the Second Act<\/h2>\n

How can we use art to Take Up Space?<\/p>\n

In life\u2019s second act<\/strong> — opening after the\u00a0successful career and\u00a0successful children in that they are not living in the house with you, who are you and how are you spending your days?<\/p>\n

Morning Pickleball?<\/p>\n

Afternoons\u00a0scrolling through endless social media posts by boys the same age as your granddaughter?<\/p>\n

Are you watching the news so you can blame \u201cthem\u201d for\u00a0the current messy, violent world?<\/p>\n

Or\u00a0would you like to be a bigger<\/strong>, bolder version of yourself, highlighting accomplishments as well as following long ago dreams?<\/p>\n

At this point you will learn you can be thinner and gain back hair follicles but we both know that\u2019s just silly.<\/p>\n

The Difference Between Art and Hobby<\/h2>\n

Creativity is a large, popular category.<\/p>\n

We can approach any activity with<\/strong> a creative mind-set from origami cranes to field dressing a moose.<\/p>\n

But are all those activities art?<\/p>\n

As important as they are, no.<\/p>\n

Hobbies are goal oriented<\/strong> —\u00a0a paper crane is successful when it looks like a paper crane.<\/p>\n

The moose dressing is successful when the whole of the moose has been moved off the train tracks.<\/p>\n

But art, like life, doesn\u2019t follow a set pattern or outcome.<\/p>\n

Hobbies are great and they keep us\u00a0off other people\u2019s lawns,\u00a0but while ball games are played to win — a hobby– Art (with a capital A) is drinking from the garden hose. You will never know the outcome of that activity. (Although out of all the choices, I don\u2019t think drinking from a non-food grade hose will be the hill our generation will die on.)<\/p>\n

Art is\u00a0the surprise ending<\/strong> you only discover because you began.<\/p>\n

Art can be abandoned, worthy of public display or rejected in favor of a fresh start.<\/p>\n

Why Do It If There Are No Billable Hours?<\/h2>\n

Which THEN begs the question if there are no billable hours, why do it?<\/p>\n

Doing is the whole point.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I wrote poetry and published books, I found that people were far more interested in HOW I did a project than the finished product itself.<\/p>\n

Second act art is about the process — life giving, life enhancing flow.<\/p>\n

Our\u00a0days can be spent in complete joy, in the zone, in flow.<\/p>\n

We can be happy all day.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every day.<\/p>\n

That is what this book is all about — how to capture the light, how to live in the world more alive to the possibilities and the yes, art of it all.<\/p>\n

The Transformative Power of Creating<\/h2>\n

Once you start creating, once you fall into the zone of doing your art, the whole world looks different — better.<\/p>\n

Just doing your art will take<\/strong> up space and expand the universe — for all of us.<\/p>\n

For an idea of the blog subjects and chapters in Take Up Space <\/i>(slated to appear summer 2026).<\/p>\n