Where did my creativity go?

My grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was about 8 years old. From there until I was in my mid-teens I crocheted all the time! I never followed patterns, and I used my imagination to make such things like the above. I had (and still have) quite a collection of crocheted clothes for my snoopys!

Now I marvel at the creativity I used to possess.

As an adult, I have to consult books in order to learn certain patterns to crochet. Why can't I just invent something like I did when I was a kid? I wonder if it's because my brain is now filled with grown-up thoughts (paying the bills and such), so I don't have any room for creativity anymore. Or maybe no time for creativity anymore.

More about my former evil boss

From a previous post (http://auntpama.blogspot.com/2007/01/work-regrets.html )I talked about my previous boss, who was such an unpleasant person to work for:

Here are two things she said to me that I still remember: Once, when I was just starting to work for her and she piled all the work on me and I was frantically trying to get it done - I had to skip lunch, and I was so thirsty my lips were cracking and bleeding - she noticed that I was really upset, and she said "Well, it's not MY fault you're so slow!".

Another time, I was upset about an abnormal pap smear (which later resolved itself, thankfully), and I confided in her about it. She said "Don't worry! Only PROSTITUTES have those kinds of problems!" Gee thanks, boss.

She would also have me lie to other people. For instance, if she didn't want someone in another lab to borrow or use something of "hers", she would tell me to tell them it wasn't working, or she was using it, etc. But she had no problem with using their stuff.

I think she was probably the most selfish person I had ever met.