As someone who has always been creative, I used to find myself really frustrated. I knew I was creative, but I wasn’t always creating. I compared myself a lot to people who were doing cool, interesting, creative work (thank you, internet) and very often felt like, why am I not doing that?
The answer was complicated because I was doing that. I was being creative in my regular, everyday life. I took lots of photographs, I wrote essays, I did craft projects. I read a lot about creativity and talked about creativity. But all of this was happening in spurts. It happened when there was time for it, and there was time, but there was no habit.
In Walking on Water, Madeleine L’engle writes:
“We must work every day, whether we feel like it or not; otherwise when it comes time to get out of the way and listen to the work, we will not be able to heed it.”
I read L’engle’s book a few months after my daughter was born. It resonated deeply with me. At that time, I considered myself more of a writer than a photographer, and I felt frustrated that I couldn’t carve out more time for my craft in the whirlwind of new motherhood. Instead, I spent a lot of time reading and scribbling random thoughts in a journal. I took a lot photographs. That was my work, my creative habit.
But the more creating and engaging online I did, the more I fell into the comparison trap, and the creating gave way to more and more consuming. Reading blogs and books, and looking at photographs took place of actually putting my head down and doing the work. I was floundering; for years, I was floundering. I would take breaks from all the consuming and get offline for a while to temper it. I still felt a strong call to be creative. For a long time, I wasn’t sure what that meant.
At the end of last year, I was still trying to figure it out. Then Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work found its way into my hands and changed the whole game. What this book taught me was to show my process, share something everyday, tell good stories, and share what I know. Reading this book was exciting, and I found myself thinking YES as I read nearly every page. Around the same time, I was figuring out that I love creating simple table scenes, playing with color, shadow, and light. So, I decided I would make this part of my daily routine.
Most days while my son naps, I take a few minutes for myself to create something on the table and snap a few photographs. I get out a few props and make a cup of coffee or tea. I quickly edit and post one of the shots to Instagram, then I go on with the day’s tasks. That’s it. Ten minutes and I’m done. And my creativity tank is full.
I do think there’s a lot to be said for creating. I love Elizabeth Gilbert’s TEDTalk about it (so much so, I wrote an essay about it). I love this Keri Smith’s list of ways to feel miserable as an artist. I love Crystal Moody and her daily paintings. I feel like creative habits are important, especially if you are a creative person. Even small things can make a huge difference — I know these table scenes have for me.
So, how what are your creative habits? How do you bring creativity into your everyday?
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By the way, one of my photographs was featured on Kim Klassen’s Still Sunday. It’s a table scene (surprise!) I posted on Instagram. If you want to see more of my table scenes and follow me on Instagram, click here and be sure to say hi!
I can totally understand what you mean. I used to paint, doodle, write almost everyday, then I fell into the ‘I’m too busy’ trap, while I always found time to procrastinate online. I decided to create more this year and I joined a couple of creative groups/classes to stay constantly inspired. Congrats for your photo!
Thank you, Alice. I think if you’re a creative person, you have to be conscious of how you spend your time and make sure you’re making time to be creative. It seems simple, but isn’t always. I love that you’ve found like-minded people to keep you in that mindset (like OLW, right? that’s how we met, I think).
Oh lindsay, I adore this post. So many good nuggets here — and I agree wholeheartedly with consuming vs. creating. I am off to find show your work NOW!
Kelly, I’m so glad! You’re going to love Show Your Work!
hey Lindsay! thanks for the mention! Less consumption, more creation was pretty much my mantra last year and it was life changing! I love your photos, so keep creating but keep sharing!
Hi Crystal! You’re welcome — I’ve loved following along with your daily project. It’s such a mental shift from consuming to creating, but it’s a good one. Thanks for saying hi! 🙂
Lindsay, you really spoke my thoughts. Seeing so many cool creative stuff online and looking at mine, I felt frustrated. partly, I am greedy: I want to do so many things. I want to write fictions, do blogging and take photographs. I then want to experiment with baking and chocolate making. And I take care of my puppy . its like my time is full, with a full-time job when my job is a creative job but not particularly related to my interests. 🙂 its true as u said, creativity is about our daily habit and on top.of that, doing things that we are happy doing them:)
Hi Lyn! I want to do so many things too. It’s hard to have so many interests when you don’t have time for all of them. I’m a big proponent of doing what you can and forgetting about the rest. I can only focus on a few things at a time, you know?
I am trying to do this by spending at least 30 minutes every day working on my creative hobbies, whether it’s editing pictures or scrapbooking. I so agree with you…you HAVE to make yourself do it!
Yes, I love that! That 30 minutes can mean so much.