Creativity Every Day
Fact or Myth? Depends on how you look at it. Recently I’ve switched to playing with art instead of “making art to sell.” I’m still not sure how this will play out long term from a shop perspective. But I can tell you how much more fun it is to play with art again. I do have the luxury of this shop being mostly for fun and not NEEDING it to perform enough to cover the mortgage (spoiler, it doesn’t).
Interested in adding more creativity into your life? Here are 4 ways to do just that:
1. Call it!
There is a noticeable difference between “I bake sometimes” vs “I am a creative home baker specializing in cookie decoration”
Once you own your identity as a creative person, its easier to make decisions that align with you. This isn’t about manifesting or deluding yourself. Simply claiming the person you are hoping to become.
Looking for more? James Clear wrote Atomic Habits and it is so good! Highly recommend.
2. Choose an easy first step
Becoming a masterful pianist is WAY too big a goal. Playing for 10 minutes each day? Much more manageable.
Be honest here. It’s easy to over estimate where you actually are, the time you will give to your art, and the energy you will have available at the right time. Really ask yourself where you are—maybe you played piano in high school—and use that to decide a next step—a beginners book of covers for your favorite pop songs.
Looking for more? Kendra Adachi and the Lazy Genius offers a lot of ideas for how to “start small” as she says.
3. Get the right supplies
As much as I want to tell you to go on a shopping spree at your local art supply store… that’s not what this is about.
Once you have called out your identity and decided on a first step, check to see if you have what you need to complete it. Does your piano need tuning? Are you almost out of sugar and baking powder?
Looking for more? This will depend so much on your chosen activity. Don’t get stuck here planning, choose the one or two things in your way and go for it!
4. Try again and then adjust
You will miss days, you will remember that you HATE that flavor of icing, you will burn a whole batch of cookies, you won’t have the budget to tune the piano. So shift things around and try again.
This is meant to be fun, don’t get hung up in perfection. Toss out the icing that is terrible, feed the burned cookies to your backyard chickens, ask friends if they have an electric keyboard to borrow… I know, it stinks. But choosing daily creativity is worth it.
Need some accountability? I’m challenging myself to be creative every day for 30 days starting April 1st (no fooling!)… I’ll be posting on socials (not every day but I’ll catch up on days I’m off insta—its too much for me daily!!) and I’ll send out weekly email tips, tricks and stories on creativity in my real world, kids, chickens, goats, and all. Drop your email in the contact me page and include “artsy april” in the subject line. Be sure to follow online (facebook and Instagram) for more updates on this creativity challenge!
Just a few ideas for inspiration… you can paint. Or print. Or stamp. Try making new cookies each day—your family with love it! It doesn’t matter what it is, just a creative hobby you love but don’t take time to practice.