--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think I didn't know what I was…" description: "\"I think I didn't know what I was creating, as much as I knew what I didn't want to do. And I didn't want my mother's life. She was an unhappy, frustrat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/sandra-cisneros-862_art_i-think-i-didn-t-know-what-i-was-creatin_300380.png" --- # I think I didn't know what I was creating, as much as I… ![“I think I didn't know what I was creating, as much as I knew what I didn't want to do. And I didn't want my mother's life. She was an unhappy, frustrated artist who always dreamed of a life that was never going to be hers.” quote by Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/sandra-cisneros-862_art_i-think-i-didn-t-know-what-i-was-creatin_300380.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/sandra-cisneros-862_art_i-think-i-didn-t-know-what-i-was-creatin_300380.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b19/sandra-cisneros-862_art_i-think-i-didn-t-know-what-i-was-creatin_300380.png) > “I think I didn't know what I was creating, as much as I knew what I didn't want to do. And I didn't want my mother's life. She was an unhappy, frustrated artist who always dreamed of a life that was never going to be hers.” [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author acknowledges uncertainty in creation, shaped by her mother's unfulfilled artistic dreams. **In simple terms:** Uncertainty in work stems from inherited hopes and doubts. Key Takeaway Identify and separate inherited expectations. Themes identity creation family legacy Mood reflective somber Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - artistic development - career decisions - personal healing - family conversations Key Concepts psychology generational trauma Questions to Reflect On - What aspirations do you truly hold? - How can you support your own creative path? A Different Perspective Focusing on what you don't want can limit creative exploration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Creating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creating/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Didn Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/didn-want/) [Frustrated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frustrated/) [Frustrated Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frustrated-artist-459696/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-unhappy/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-mother/) ## Related quotes > [I'm kind of floating out there as an artist. 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I'm not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sendak/i-have-nothing-now-but-praise-for-my-life-i-m-not-unhappy-i-cry-a-lot/) [Maurice Sendak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sendak/) > [“But if you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/but-if-you-will-not-take-this-counsel-and-persist-in-thinking-a/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [I'm not going to live my life unhappy and why should he and we talk about it and I think what's great about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-long/i-m-not-going-to-live-my-life-unhappy-and-why-should-he-and-we-talk/) [Nia Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-long/) > [Life for the unhappy is an endless search for 'the good parent,' one who will truly love him instead of making him afraid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-freeman/life-for-the-unhappy-is-an-endless-search-for-the-good-parent-one-who/) [Lucy Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-freeman/) > [Not to follow the dharma leads to disaster. Life will be unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/not-to-follow-the-dharma-leads-to-disaster-life-will-be-unhappy/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If this life is unhappy, it is a burden to us, which it is difficult to bear; if it is in every respect happy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/if-this-life-is-unhappy-it-is-a-burden-to-us-which-it-is-difficult-to/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) ## More by Sandra Cisneros > [We tend to think of orphans as being the protagonist of stories we read when we're kids, and yet here you are: you're an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/we-tend-to-think-of-orphans-as-being-the-protagonist-of-stories-we/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [I'm learning a lot by reading teachers like Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodron. They teach me because I feel like I have a responsibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/i-m-learning-a-lot-by-reading-teachers-like-thich-nhat-hanh-pema/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [I never know what something is going to be until it emerges from the womb and you see the crown of its head and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/i-never-know-what-something-is-going-to-be-until-it-emerges-from-the/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [Believe it or not, Mexican cooking, for those of you who have not gone farther south than Taco Bell, uses a lot of vegetables.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/believe-it-or-not-mexican-cooking-for-those-of-you-who-have-not-gone/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [I feel that I can teach my listener about a new word they can use too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/i-feel-that-i-can-teach-my-listener-about-a-new-word-they-can-use-too/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [Now I feel life is really short and I have to take care of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/now-i-feel-life-is-really-short-and-i-have-to-take-care-of-things/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [To this day, on my cheat days from my diet, which are New Year's Eve and my birthday, I buy luxury foods that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/to-this-day-on-my-cheat-days-from-my-diet-which-are-new-year-s-eve/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [You can never have too much sky . You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky, and sky can keep you safe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/you-can-never-have-too-much-sky-you-can-fall-asleep-and-wake-up-drunk/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [ \[Jorge Luis Borges\] had short stories, and I was trying to learn how to write short stories, and then he had these things in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/jorge-luis-borges-had-short-stories-and-i-was-trying-to-learn-how-to/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [I want to thank you, especially those people who are agnostic or atheist. I don't mean any offense by the things I said of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/i-want-to-thank-you-especially-those-people-who-are-agnostic-or/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [ We changed it to emocionó, the way you say in Spanish, "to emotion me" \[to be moved\]. That, as opposed to "haunt." We wanted… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/we-changed-it-to-emocion-the-way-you-say-in-spanish-to-emotion-me-to/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [When I'm starting to feel, "How many more people are there?" I go slower. I ask questions, and that person engaging with me gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/when-i-m-starting-to-feel-how-many-more-people-are-there-i-go-slower/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [I've put up with too much, too long, and now I'm just too intelligent, too powerful, too beautiful, too sure of who I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/i-ve-put-up-with-too-much-too-long-and-now-i-m-just-too-intelligent/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [If we got an educational program going, we could tell people, "Instead of butter, use avocado." That's something we eat, it has the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/if-we-got-an-educational-program-going-we-could-tell-people-instead/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [I always have to have sweet and salty. I know some of you are going to say, "Oh, I tried dates. I hate them."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/i-always-have-to-have-sweet-and-salty-i-know-some-of-you-are-going-to/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) [Explore all 347 Sandra Cisneros quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. 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