That chicken's face is kind of disturbing, don't you think?

Yesterday, my odometer flipped again. This whole "pushing 50" thing is getting real. One more year, and I'll be "pulling 50" for a while.

I spent my birthday weekend with my sweetie, eating beignets and drinking cafe au lait, painting chickens , and passing the Tennessee handgun safety course. Not all at the same time, because that would just be weird.

Oddly, there WAS a central theme here: Learning new stuff

The beignet thing - well, even though it was only about 15 miles away, it was in a direction I have never driven. (Hermits will understand.) Beautiful area, and delicious cajun food - we'll be back.

I'd be curious to know if this happens in your brain, too.

As writers, of course, we create using words. The muse sings, and we concentrate hard, trying to grab the words she dangles in the middle of our minds. We play with words, replaying and rearranging, searching for verbs that make sentences come alive, sculpting our voices and polishing paragraphs until they flow perfectly.

But sometimes, there's also this peripheral push to translate images that flash in our imaginations into some other medium. Painting, pastry, pottery - there's this unrelenting desire to create, even in media that don't use words. It almost hurts until we let it out... even if it's "not very good".

That drive to make art builds up in my mind until it punches a hole through to the outside. It's not always pretty. In fact, it's usually not - at least not to someone else's eye.

So, that's what's been happening for the past few weeks. A need to paint something. My troubles with paint include:

• Having no idea what I'm doing, except for when I watch how other artists do stuff.
• Paint doesn't do what I think it should do - and it dries funny.
• What my hands make usually bears no resemblance to what I saw in my mind.

Whatever. I still have to do it.

Thus, the chicken painting. I bought these VERY cool watercolor markers (less mess, more control) and have had a blast making questionable art, beginning with this portrait of "Not-Beatrice" (as opposed to Beatrice and "Other Not-Beatrice" - my chicken naming is hampered by the fact they look so much alike!). Her face looks like some cartoon character that I can't quite put my finger on.

I wasn't alone in learning something new.

I'm left-eyed, right-handed (this equals GOOFY aim), and until recently, I WAS the gang who couldn't shoot straight. Not sure what changed, but I figured out how to shoot pretty freaking well, which makes it a lot more fun now. (That's a life principle that'll work all day long... the more we practice, the better we get, and the more fun it is.) Next step was taking the concealed carry permit class.

It was fascinating talking with the other 20 students (functional extraversion can be fun, kids!) in the class. There were veterans who discovered their service record which included "small arms" certification didn't count for handguns. (Ohhhkay). There were pharmacists who were tired of feeling like sitting ducks. There were ladies in their 70s - some were recently widowed, some were recently robbed, and one was planning a cross-country ramble on her own. Each person had a reason for spending eight hours on a lovely Saturday training and learning.

Very few knew anyone else in the class. Most just decided they wanted to do this, and went for it. None of us went to learn so we could make money with this skill. None were required to take the class. Didn't matter that they were "old" or nervous or BAD at it... we were all there to learn - for the fun of learning. Oh, and then I felt more 'art' coming on :)

All this to say...

YES, learn all you can about writing, business, and using your hard-wired talents to help you create the life you want.

But also, learn other stuff that interests you. Even if you're not good at it (you might improve). Even if it seems useless or frivolous. Even if it doesn't turn out like you saw it in your mind.

There's something about creating, letting that THING that's been banging on the walls of your mind out. It scratches an itch that can't be reached any other way.

What do YOU like to create?