So much of my life I've lived by the "don't sweat the small stuff" mindset. I don't hold grudges, I let things roll off my back. I let people feel like they've won if it's clear they need to feel like the winner — and all of this, I do authentically. I am proud of my ability to be empathetic, to work to assume someone's bad mood or gripe doesn't have anything to do with me. Maybe they have a sick family member or just got in a fender bender or any number of things that would make me a ticked-off and impatient person.

The downside to this is, I also forget to honor the big(ger) stuff. I don't mean like a glitter parade and lobster dinner with champagne kind of celebration — but a "hey, you know, I'm proud of myself for getting through that interview" or "it does feel good to make a large wholesale order" kinda celebration. There is always something to do, another meeting to attend, another after-school transportation issue to figure out... and then, in a flash, these moments are gone.

This also applies to the negative and not-so-happy moments in life. The supreme sadness of a death or a broken heart, the loss of a job or of a friend. These things, these emotions, are the highs and lows in life and should be remembered and taken stock-of because, in the end, it is what makes life worth living — it makes us human. The rest is minutia.

If we only live in the middle we are missing out on the greatest part of being alive — the ability to feel emotion. To cry honest tears of sadness or happiness. To feel the shiver of anxiety or the butterflies of love. Failure to notice these powerful moments in life strips us of the ability to experience (and to reciprocate) the beauty around us, the goodness in others and unconditional love.

What does this have to do with art or creating? I guess, for me, art is a way I remind myself to be more aware, to not pooh-pooh things, just because I feel too busy to stop. I can't create beauty if I can't slow myself down enough to experience the beauty that it is to be human.

More from Maggi Blue:

• Inspiration for the pragmatic creative

Maggi Blue is a freelance graphic designer, glass artisan and metalsmith in the Midcoast. She is a lover of color, a collector of skills and one badass at dying Easter eggs. Her columns explore what it's like to find the artist within while still making a living in Maine.