When I think about the Joan Didion quote, “I don’t know what I think until I write it down,” I think about keeping a journal. To me, this quote embodies everything that journaling should do: reveal what’s going on below the surface. It’s scratching at the inner life, not just writing a log of daily activities (though that can be a part of it). Keeping a journal is asking hard questions, probing for answers, letting your messy thoughts run free on the page. In your journal, you can be your …
creativity
A Year of Literary Happiness
I’m not one to rip off other people’s ideas, but when Gretchen Rubin, on her podcast, suggested trying a happiness project in the new year, it got my wheels turning. To say I was unhappy last year is an understatement. I don’t want to belabor that point and keep saying it was hard (even if it was). What I want to do is turn the page and head in a new direction. Part of that is adopting my two mantras for the year: DO THE WORK and ENJOY IT. Do the work because this is the year I’m going to …
Finding Creativity in Daily Life
Last year, I took a class in fine art photography. It was an effort to dive deeper into my photography and figure out who I am as a photographer. I wanted the chance to explore and push myself. What it led me to was an ongoing conversation about what fine art photography is and what we mean when we say fine art. It was very philosophical and it ultimately got the wheels in my head turning about what creativity means to me. After much deliberation with my classmates, I turned to this definition: …
Questions, Wonder, and Curiosity
Last week at an end-of-the-year class party, Lily received an award from her teacher for being most inquisitive in the class. She shook her teacher’s hand with a big smile on her face, then ran over to show me. A tiny clip art detective with a giant magnifying glass was smack in the middle of the page. “This is wonderful,” I told her. I was having a moment of mommy pride. Other kids received awards for being fashionable or remembering every vacation they’ve ever been on. Some got awards for …
Creative Habits and Burnout
Creativity has its own ebb and flow. It’s not a constant outpouring. Sometimes it’s a waterfall; others, it’s barely a trickle. The waterfall time is awesome, when ideas come by the bucketful and the need to create is intense. It feels so important during this time to ride the wave as far as it will take me, to jump in with both feet and embrace whatever comes. Because I know that it won’t always feel that way. The trickle is coming because it always comes. Call it burnout or exhaustion or …