Kick start your Creativity and improve your wellbeing in the process
For me, motherhood was an excellent time to tune back into my creativity.
Claire Venus.
I LOVE all things creative! Do you feel like you might have space for finding out more about your creativity? Where does it come from? How come it hides from us sometimes?
For me, motherhood was an excellent time to tune back into my creativity.
Let’s face it, we’re all multi-tasking, running various multitasking endurance races each week. I promise there is time for creativity too especially because choosing the right thing can impact hugely on your wellbeing. Creativity can help bring us back into the moment, give us a sense of accomplishment and delight our ‘inner child’ too. Taking creativity at a slow pace can be like medicine to the modern fast paced world.
If you watch your children creating worlds or lining up colours, shapes and experimenting, you see that play itself is inherently creative.
As adults, especially mothers, the domestic load, adulting in general and work creeps in and replaces joyful living. Play and feeling playful doesn’t always feel within our reach.
Do you journal?
I am a journaling super geek and I really think it helps me to unstick any creative blocks.
I’ve designed these wonderful journal prompts to help turn your sense of wonder, play and creativity back on! Try:
What ups your oxytocin and makes you feel really good? Sure, you can choose cake! But what about something else linked to being creative? Yes, baking the cake counts especially if it’s a recipe you’ve not tried before!
Making a House a Home - The Massive Creative Project
When we made the move to rural Northumberland, we bought a 98-year-old house. We could see looking down the street neighbours had extended so we thought we can do that! Let’s build our dream home!
This was before the world of #interiors on Instagram so Pinterest was my main point of inspiration much to our architect and builder’s annoyance! We wanted to open up the view to the ocean from our home and open a wellbeing studio (My husband is a breath coach and yoga teacher).
Our son was 2 when we started the planning and 3 when we finished the build. Turning your home into a building site and still living there IS possible, and the constant transformation delighted our son!
Do you have a huge creative project you want to undertake? What help and specialisms would see you to bring into reality?
I work as a Project Manager in the Cultural Sector so although planning a project comes easily to me. Full disclosure, I did hit decision paralysis a few times. The way I got past this was to keep the BIG dream or vision in mind. Those Pinterest boards, a book full of paint samples and notes of how I wanted to bring it all together and how I wanted us to feel in the spaces kept me focussed whilst working full time.
Igniting Creativity - The Personal Creative Challenge
Starting with small creative challenges can be a wonderful way in. Weaving in time for creativity is easier than you think. Can you set yourself a challenge to journal every other day for a week? When would you do it?
Head to my website and download ‘Freedom Planning’ if you want to know more about how I plan all this in weekly.
Can you weave in creativity with the kids? Perhaps handmade Christmas cards or small gifts? I love to take over our kitchen table with my little boy who is now 6. He doesn’t always concentrate for long, but I weave that into my planning and know I’ll probably end up finishing the activity off.
It’s the same if I decide to some of my own stuff. I love to make books and if I set up my son might ask to come and have a go too. So, we do that, and he soon goes off and does his own thing.
Other tips
Get the family or friends involved. Ask for help with childcare or get a monthly creative zoom on the go.
Find an accountability buddy. This works especially well for short creativity challenges.
There are some great kits on the market to kick start your creativity and give you a lovely sense of accomplishment. Check out:
Have fun planning your creative endeavours and come and chat to me online I’d love to hear from you.