Today I was driving to work thinking about how I needed to come post for all of you today (yesterday I had been thinking the same thing, but despite being my day off I just hadn't managed to find the time) - the problem was: I just wasn't sure what to post about.
I've had this problem lately; I recently opened a store called Every Day Well-Being and I'm working all week, even with my part-time help (aka my sister) it's a drastic change from my former life of lounging around my house like the average housewife. (Ok, so I wasn't lounging, I really did work - as a housewife and a coach - but it sure feels like lounging compared to lately). So, much of my energy is going into the store I'm having a hard time finding the where-with-all to blog - well, to create anything actually.
So, what do you do when your creativity gets sucked in the energy vacuum of life?
My personal opinion is that creative expression is one for those true paradoxes of life: not creating begets more not creating while creating always begets more creating. But how do you nudge a paradox from a cycle of being blocked to a cycle of creation?
Well, paradoxically enough: by stepping off the cycle and Creating - as I'm finding right now. Just the act of blogging has helped me to find my blog post. Hmmm...
So, maybe, like me, you just need a creative Kick In The Pants to help you get going. Which is why I've done a little research for you. These aren't my favorite sites (although, I've been aware of some of them for sometime now), they are instead sites that have simple and fun creative activities that promise not to be too overwhelming or creatively frightening - and yet just inspiring enough to nudge you over the edge of the Not Creating track and back firmly into the Creating cycle that I know you are longing for.
Totally childish and nothing but fun, Making Friends is chock full of Paper Dolls! Yes, paper dolls. They are fabulous, you can print their bodies, and then print out all kinds of outfits for them. Color them in and stick them together, or you could even laminate them and make them reusable! Some seriously not scary, grubby, hands on fun.
I used to love to color. I loved to fill in the lines with lovely colors and was always happy to have completed a page of well done art. Of course, I haven't really done much coloring (per say) since I was a kid, but what could be more soothing and creative than filling in the lines with wax crayons again? And of course, because we are all grown up now, grown up designs will make it feel a little less ridiculous; you could try these: Mandala Coloring Pages.
Or you might like to try making Journal Art. I found a tutorial by this artist forever ago (I even blogged about it on Living Abundantly) and sometimes when I'm really stuck or struggling I'll pull out a sketch pad and close my eyes and... see what shows up on the page.
And, in searching for the instructions on making Journal Art I also found instructions on Art Journaling - different art, same cool creative results (a funky piece of art on the page). Well, that's got to be right up somebody's ally so I figure I might as well share it with you.
You'll note I've made an effort to share simple and *Free* creative ideas with you. You could of course find all kinds of lessons covering painting to jewelry making, and hey, you could even post a lesson on you Art of Choice - another activity that is sure to spark the creative juices in you once again.
Sometimes a creative struggle is best served by a short lull. For example, it had been months, and I mean months since I had painted. All the paintings I'd made for sometime before that had been somewhat frustrating - they just weren't doing (or becoming maybe) what I wanted them to be, so I had set down my brushes for a bit. Then last week my wonderful, fabulous husband (otherwise known as Wakizashi) insisted that I paint. I swear, he forced me to do it!
And the painting that came out... it was lovely, fabulous. (I'm not quite done it, but maybe I'll post a picture before my week is all over). And the lesson was that giving myself some space and not making myself work so hard at the painting paid off in a lovely piece of art.
So, if you're struggling with getting the art out, or making the art look the way it does in your head, just toss aside your current project and all its paraphernalia - instead waste a little time with one of these creative ventures and see if that doesn't help to return a little balance to your life. Which reminds me, I think I'll work on finishing my little painting up tonight...
