Spring Cleaning and Creativity

No, this is not a post on creative ways to do spring cleaning.  Today I was cleaning out the armoire in our bedroom.  Some things were destined for the garbage.  Some made me laugh - my Sony Walkman, ancient ancestor to the IPod.  And I unwrapped a gem.  It was not a diamond, or ruby, but to me it is more precious than either of those.  This is a small six inch china plate that was hand painted by my grandmother, Anna Mary Bechtol Porr.  I called my Mother to ask if she remembered when she had painted it.  She felt pretty certain she made it before she got married, which was in 1909.  Mom said that while we lived in Iowa she showed it to an older lady who told Mom that that's what young ladies did at the time.  President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said the following:  "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul." http://lds.org/ensign/2008/11/happiness-your-heritage?lang=eng Grandma was probably between 16 and 19 when she made this.  She came from a large family in rural Ohio. They were farmers, like their ancestors before them.  I had a hard time imagining a teen age girl, whose mother was ill during those years,  having the time to paint, but prior to her marriage she did spend some time in Indiana with extended family.  Perhaps she made it there.   To further quote President Uchtdorf:  "No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before." 
This is a picture of Anna taken before she was married, perhaps at the time of her engagement.  After she was married Anna became the mother of 14 children.  No doubt, there was not time to paint pretty plates.  There were children to tend to, laundry to be done, and many meals to prepare for a very large family.  Yet, she still found time to create.  President Uchtdorf:  "Everyone can create.  You don't need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty."  Grandma created quilts.  Each of her children received one when they graduated from high school. Grandma sewed dresses for her daughters.  At the end of each harvest season, her shelves displayed "the fruits of her labors" with her creations of jams, jellies, etc.  Each spring Grandma went through the yearly rituals of deep cleaning in order to create a clean home for her family.  President Uchtdorf:  "Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment."  I have felt that deep satisfaction in doing the things that my Grandmother did:  quilting, canning, and sewing.   Not so much the spring cleaning - I'd rather blog about spring cleaning than do it!  But I'll be back at it tomorrow, and maybe I'll discover another long-forgotten treasure.