Making Creativity a Priority

Podcasts, Postcards and Playing

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Happy Monday.

I am sitting in a sun filled room, at a messy desk with a cup of tea that is getting cold. There are lots of things I should be doing. I probably should be starting dinner. I should probably fold and put away some laundry. I should probably clean something-or a hundred somethings. I should probably be outside getting some fresh air.

Instead I am doing what I am feeling.

I am feeling that some time with my creativity is where my attention needs to be right now.
I am feeling that tea can be reheated, laundry can always be folded and there will always be something to clean.
So those things can wait.

I am feeling that the call of my creativity really and truly matters.
I am feeling that I have spent far too much of my adult life doing what other people said I should be doing instead of following through on what I was feeling called to do.

I am feeling that that no external validation of me, my work or how I spend my time is needed for it to be a value. For it to be important to the world in ways I could not possibly know or understand.

I am feeling that when one person chooses to do what they are truly called to do they make, in that very moment, magic that ripples out into the world and changes things for the better.

I am feeling that when a creative person does their thing the energy of that inspires countless others to follow suit-like an energetic ripple that tears through the Universe, unseen but felt.

And that each time that ripple touches another and they also choose to do their thing that they also send out a ripple. And so on and so on.

I believe these creative ripples can spread faster than any viral video and best of all-hold lots more staying power. This is where change initiates. This is the fertile soil where dream seeds are planted and hope is inspired in others. Creativity does all this. It matters. Yes yours matters.

Even if you don’t share it with anyone.
Even if no one hearts it or thumbs it.
You see, each moment that a creative person does what they were put here to do-they make magic true and real.
They start the movement of giant cosmic gears to shift and change and bring about light, love and joy.
Your creativity matters so much. Even if you don’t think it does-it does.
It matters to you.
It matters to me.

Here’s to play time.

Until next time…

–Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

P.S.

I recorded a new podcast today. You can listen here if you like.

Little and Often: Sharing My Creative Week

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I am sitting with a cup of coffee as the snow and ice fall outside. My oldest two are enjoying their video games and my youngest is happily pushing her dolls around in her Hello Kitty carriage while simultaneously sneaking candy.

I was able to enjoy a decent amount of creative time this week and to spend it in my favorite way-little bits of time through out the day. Embracing my natural self, the person I truly am seems to be a longer process than I had thought it would be. Realizing all of the ways I have limited, trimmed, scolded or adopted things that really have nothing to do with me seems to be a process I don’t imagine I will ever be done with. Even as I write this I hear voices whispering their beliefs and criticisms of what I am saying. Recognizing what’s truth and what’s not is a practice I am learning to be gentle with so I can see it and then just let it go.

I have been reclaiming my creative time too.  Letting it be time spent being creative without expecting anything other than time enjoyed being creative. It’s a subtle switch but one that releases me into my creativity and allows me to play and enjoy my time in my little creative world.

Little and often is my favorite way to be in the world. I am not a project person-someone who likes to clear a day to dig in, upset and resettle something. I like to pick, doing a bit here and a bit there as I move through out a day consisting of little or no plans other than to eat and sleep at some point.

It’s a different way to exist in a world that has times for everything. A time we should be in bed and a time we should wake up. A time we should accomplish certain things and a time when those things should come to an end. I releasing myself from the burden of “shoulds” and of time as much as I can manage. I have long thought about letting go of clocks all together, perhaps even dates and days of the week all together. To focus more on just being and experiencing life rather than rushing towards a destination.

As with anything it starts small. It starts with releasing expectations around the easier places, the safe places like my creative corner. To allow myself and my creativity to be with one another without the expectation of more or tainting the experience by a judgment for what it should look like or result in the end.

I hope you are able to find some gentle time with your creativity. To meet it happily and with no other goal than to enjoy each other’s company. I hope as you move into the weekend you are able to do so with a gentle disregard for time and to focus rather on the being in the now.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Tired Creativity

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Making time for our creativity is something I think we can all struggle with. Often when we have the time we don’t have the energy and when we have the energy may be committed to other things such as job, family or just doing laundry.

I have often found myself in this cycle of needing, really needing to spend time with my art. I long to sit in my creative corner and paint or collage and to just get lost in the art of creating. More often than not the only time I have to do this is at the end of the day and the end of the day finds me tired. And usually it’s more than tired it’s the drain that comes with taking care of others all day with little focused energy on yourself. Or perhaps it’s the drain of spending your days focused on work that isn’t your passion-or worse-work that you really dislike doing.

It’s always surprising to me how often I put off that which I know I love most. The practices that make me smile or even better sigh with pure, unadulterated joy, are the ones that I put off the most and my creativity is no exception.

I do however pay attention. I take note of the habits and thoughts that run around in my brain. I try my best to be conscious of the choices I am making in each moment and it’s the times when I engage with my creativity that I noticed something you may have also experienced.

Creativity fuels me.

Creativity heals me.

Creativity releases the toxins, the sadness, the pain and it refills me with joy, truth and love.

It takes mere moments of me putting some color on a simple journal page for me to feel the calibration starting to happen. My energy raises, my mood lightens and I am rewarded by a feeling of rejuvenation I would not have thought possible a mere 5 minutes earlier.

I’ve spent my whole adult life trying to make time for my creativity when in reality I wanted to find time when I was at my best, fully awake and ready to go. I wanted hours upon hours of creative time. I wanted my creative time to be as long as-if not longer-than the time I spent at the day job.

Here’s what I have discovered about the beauty of creativity.

It’s there to heal us creatives. It is what keeps us moving through life, what keeps us reaching for the unconventional, the new, the non-mainstream. Creativity, unlike the day job, doesn’t demand from us our best. Instead it is like a loving grandmother, arms outstretched providing us with a safe place to rest. A place where we can dump all the hard and the taxing and leave with all that is bright, inspiring and real.

Instead of seeking ways to make time for my creativity, I challenge myself to just sit down at my workspace even if it’s with a cup of tea, feeling exhausted and completely lacking in inspiration. I might pick up a favorite material (current my Tempera paint sticks are my most favorite-so much fun for adding layers to a journal) and a simple composition notebook and just put some color on some paper. I am not seeking to make a masterpiece-or even to make anything at all. Instead I simply want to be with my creativity. To sit together, connect and just be. I start with a goal of 5 minutes. 5 minutes I sit there and doodle, scribble, paint or glue scraps to paper.

Almost every time I feel the energy flow in. I start to sit up straighter, smile maybe a bit and before I know it I am creating where just minutes before I was too exhausted to make myself some toast.

Creativity is a magical gift. It is there for you and you only need to knock on its door to feel the rewards. A Creative practice isn’t something that needs to be big or thought out-it is after all practice. You simply visit with it each day-and on the days when you want to skip it remind yourself that it’s then you need it most. It is the moments when you are lost, tired, sad, scared, frustrated that you need your creativity.

And it is always there for you.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Snow, Creativity & The Full Moon

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Happy Monday morning!

I am sitting at my kitchen table with a delicious cup of decaf coffee. Why decaf? Well I have learned (repeatedly because, well, human) that caffeine makes me anxious. Like, zombies are about to crash through the front door kinda anxious. So, decaf. I buy good stuff (yes, there is good decaf) and I make it in my french press with half-n-half (no sugar) so it’s quite yummy and I don’t miss the caffeine. Coffee was never something that woke me up and gave me energy. I have just enjoyed the ritual of it so the decaf serves me quite well.

Outside is blanketed in snow-I think about 3-4″ accumulated from late last night followed by rain. It’s also predicted to warm up so I imagine, like a typical Jersey snow it will rush in, look fabulous and then disappear before we know it only to return again at a later date as if it never left.

I had quite a bit of creative time this weekend. The moon is full today and that resulted in my usual crash of energy and need to retreat into the solitude of my creative corner and wrap myself up in books, paint and glue. I did some collage and I am prepping a new journal to utilize as a moon tracker for myself which I think will be fun. I am really focusing on making my art my own and to spend more time having fun and less time worrying about results. Having lived this life as long as I have I have never enjoyed myself when I focused simply on results. Results quickly turn things into chores and things that need to be weighed and judged as either worthy or unworthy and I usually stomp off in a huff taking my crayons and going home.

Instead, I want to enjoy my play time. I want to glue, paint, draw, doodle and just enjoy myself. I can’t possibly know where I am going but I believe with my whole heart that if I am present, aware and focused on Joy I really can’t go wrong and wherever I find myself will be quite lovely all around.

So today I am focused on making art and having fun while doing it. I am taking part in a swap where I am making a new art journal and recording the process. I will probably share that video over on my other blog but will try and link to it here if you are interested. It’s going to be a journal that myself and my swap partner will each make art in and go back and forth adding our own spins on it. I have never done anything like this and think it’s going to be a lot of fun.

I also have quite a few sewing projects on my list and if I manage to get through any I will be sure to do a little round up of what I got to this week. I also hope to record you another podcast and I really would love to do a little studio chat where we can hang out together and make things. I love working alongside some of my favorite creatives so I thought I would create something similar for you here. I just need to work out a time where I can record uninterrupted. I’ll keep you posted on that.

In the meantime I hope your Monday is off to a lovely start and that you are able to get some creative time in. Please do comment below and let me know what you are working on. I would love to hear!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante.

 

Some things that are really inspiring me right now….

Susan Branch’s Blog: Her post today really inspired me to just get on with writing here and sharing a little bit about what I am up to. To connect and that’s what I found her blog to do.

Laly Mille’s Art Journaling for a New Year Course: This is a free course she is currently running and I just love watching other artists mix collage and paint and words. It’s by far my favorite way to create.

Making Space for Me

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Do you ever feel as if there isn’t space for you?

Often times I feel that I am so generous giving of my time and energy and physical space to others that it can appear there isn’t much left for me. I remember I went to a seminar one time and a woman arrived late and was looking around for a seat so I made room so she could sit next to me. Later she continual asked that I move my chair over so she had more room. So much so that if I moved any more I would be out in the aisle and I finally had to very firmly tell her no.

I often feel I have to hold boundaries. That my generosity is often met by others with a grab it before it’s gone type mentality until I feel I have been plucked clean of any space I had. What’s interesting is when I realize how much time and energy I spend making sure everyone has what they need-but me.

I mentioned in Monday’s post how I am recovering and resting. I have been longing to paint and it just felt like something I couldn’t do. Tonight I was watching an art class and I so wanted to take part but when I looked over I saw my desk was covered with all sorts of odds and ends.

I had no space to create.

And while I didn’t think I would paint I realized that as long as the desk was covered I wasn’t going to paint so I got up and cleared away the mess. It took maybe 15 minutes and my desk was clean and ready to use whenever I felt the urge to paint. I also found a scrap of paper that inspired me to make a random collage journal and a journal I had made a few months back that would be perfect for it!

Then I decided to sit down and paint. It was a short session while the kids got ready for bed but it was time for me. It was spaciousness that I gave myself as a gift. Just before I wrote this post I sat down for some more art time and I can already feel myself restoring from the gift of making space for myself. I am still working on the piece but I will share a photo here when it’s all done.

What can you do to make space for yourself? Is there something you can do to make things easier so when you are inspired to create you can just get down to the fun part? I would love to hear.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Resting, Recharging and NaNoWriMo Wrap Up

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How are you? I hope this post is finding you well and that (if you celebrate) you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a very nice visit with my husband’s family. It was gorgeous weather here on the East Coast and the kids were able to spend time with their cousins which is always a highlight for them.

On Saturday we went to a local Christmas parade which has become a yearly tradition for us. We started it when my oldest was only 1 and have been going every year and really enjoy it. I admit to feeling completely wiped out but as this was the first year my youngest was going to really watch the parade I didn’t want to miss it and I am so glad I went. It was a fun time for us all.

I have also been keeping up with my NaNoWriMo challenge and if all goes well I should reach my word count on November 30th. I will be sure to let you know how I make out!

Now, I rest. Now I work on recharging. I love doing things and being around people but afterwards I need my cocoon time. To curl up, be cozy and not have to speak or talk or listen much. To just be and reconnect.

I missed my art journals. I want to play with paper and paint and make a mixed media mess but I just didn’t have the energy today. I also wanted to write a fantastic blog post complete with video and again, just didn’t have the energy so I thought I would just stop by and say hello to you and share a small sketch I made in bed while listening to my favorite podcast

It felt good to make a small amount of time for those activities that are just for me. To honor those things I love so much and to make time for myself in a way that is just for me. There is so much I want to do and so many things I want to accomplish but I have to remind myself that it’s never the accomplishment that matters-it’s the experiences we have.

I hope you are taking care of yourself today in a way that is special just for you.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante