5 ways to revitalize your creative life
Life is busy. So busy in fact that we seem to have split it into parts. We have our work life, social life and our love life to name a few. Each with its own set of demands and needs. One wouldn't be wrong in thinking that all these lives are a bit of a juggle. And yet, there is one ‘life’ we consistently forget about our creative life.
Who even heard of such a thing? And yet, our creative life is the generator of our inspiration, creativity and that special spark we all need in life. So why doesn’t it get better press? This article is an ode to the importance of a creative life well lived, plus a little 5-step assignment to revitalise your creative life at the end of the article. These simple steps will help you revitalize your creative life with ease.
Why is it so important?
When we were little, most of our lives were creative. Absolutely everything was done in a state of curiosity and play. Then slowly we all had to grow up, the to-do lists took over, and before we knew it, every hour of our lives was dedicated to being productive citizens who pay our taxes and sit in traffic jams.
Somewhere along the line, our creative lives took a back seat. It’s no mystery how this happened really. When life demands that everything we do be productive (even relaxation is productive and aspirational) our creative lives hardly ever make it to the to-do list. Is it making money? Is it feeding the kids or keeping the house clean? Is it keeping your bum tight? Nope. And just like that, our creative life, and with it, our inspiration and state of play end up in the bin. This has far-reaching consequences. This is how many of us find ourselves uninspired and depleted, bogged down by daily life and gently wondering to ourselves what the point of it all it, on late nights when everyone is in bed.
If life has lost its lustre chances are, it's because you’ve lost your creative spark, your inspiration and your space to play. This usually means it's high time to invest in your creative life. Creating space for, for instance, drawing and painting may not pay the bills, but nor does it have to. What matters is, that your creative life ignites a spark inside of you, that gives you energy and a lust for life. Unlike many of our other ‘lives’, our creative life is the place where we recharge. In fact, our creative lives give us energy, instead of taking it. Creative energy is our fuel for life, and something we simply can’t do without. So get to it!
1. Find your thing
Having a creative life is all well and good, but what exactly is my creative thing, I hear you asking. Ever noticed that when you are drawing or playing with clay for an hour or so it feels like you’ve been on vacation? Yet when you scroll on social media or check your emails you blink and the evening is gone?
We experience time in wildly different and personal ways, and here lies a pretty big clue. The thing that makes you feel as if time has slowed down, relax you and yet make you feel focused at the same time are your thing (sometimes you’ll have multiple).
My way of bending time has always been drawing and writing fiction. Drawing can reduce stress for many, and incorporating drawing into your daily life can bend time so much that you’ll feel you have twice as much of it. This slowing of time is uniquely relaxing and gently creates the feeling within us that we do in fact have time to be creative. Which things bend time for you? Is it drawing, or cake baking? Now you know your thing, all you have to do is gently replace one time-consuming and anxiety-inducing habit (for instance social media time) and replace it with the things that make time slow down and seem abundant. You can even start with 15 mins a day, and then watch it grow.
2. Go back to the source
A lot of the students that follow my drawing courses, advanced or for beginners, are looking for a way to (re)connect with their creativity and voice. Most of them used to have an active creative life filled with storytelling, drawing and painting. Either at school, high school or some art school. Then, life got in the way.
The thing that sparked your inspiration and creativity as a child or young adult is most likely something that can enrich your life right now. Maybe it’s time to start giving that something a bit more space to reawaken and grow. You can do this by gently replacing habits that stress you out and steal your time with tiny pockets of time to be creative and relax. If you already know what your thing is, but you struggle a bit with perfectionism or perhaps trying to make your creativity your side hustle, then it might be a good idea to go back to the age of innocence too, by giving yourself space to be creative, for the sake of being creative and nothing else. If you struggle a little to create space in your life for creativity on your own, don't worry at all, the world is full of devices and campaigns that have been designed to distract you continuously, so it’s perfectly natural to struggle. Luckily you can always count on a creative community to get you started and support your growth. If we work together, go to the gym together, live together, and share our loves and losses together, why would our creative lives be any different? So, if this sounds like you, maybe consider joining a creative community like The Winter Intensive that can get you in touch with your thing.
3. Get nerdy
Give yourself space and permission to be unapologetically nerdy, for no good reason at all. Are you obsessed with Stranger Things or a series of young adult books? Have you always collected family albums from the 50s? Do you know an alarming amount about serial killers from the 70s? Perfect! The things we sponge up for no apparent reason deserve our attention and respect. This is where our inspiration and sense of play like to hide.
Ever wondered how an artist can just hone in on one thing and run with it? Or how an artist can spend a lifetime drawing and painting 500 versions of the sunset over the house where they grew up? Permission to be nerdy, that's how. You may not know what your sunset is just yet, but give your nerdy interests space and you are sure to find out (just remember, you are allowed to try out all the things before you get there). Need a nerdy buddy? If drawing is your thing, consider joining a creative accountability community like
The Winter Intensive. They get it.
4. Find community
Hardly anything flourishes in isolation. Nope, not trees, humans or artists. Even if you enjoy personal projects or having a solo space to work on your art, there is always the need for the community to share with and be inspired by. One of the oldest and most useless myths about art is the myth of the lone artist in the attic (eye roll).
Working in utter isolation might have worked for a few monks in the past, but when you have many full and demanding lives on the go next to your creative life, we simply don’t have the time to be hanging out in the attic, in fact a lot of us may find that spending day’s, months or year in the attic alone is not really that fun. Thankfully, your creative life is not an endurance test or an opportunity to prove your mental stamina. Your creative life is allowed to be full of joy, pleasure and ease.
So, repeat after me: I do not have to do it alone! If you want to make space for your creative life, then go back to the source and get nerdy with your interests, then add the support of a creative community that is doing exactly the same thing! Join a Facebook group, join a drawing course for beginners or an advanced drawing course, online or offline. Find yourself a creative community to give you inspiration and accountability. Nothing beats finding a new community with the same interests as you. If drawing it your thing and you are mid-level do advances, you might love The Winter Intensive.
5. Treat yourself, big time.
That's right, treat yourself to some new art materials on your day off. Most importantly, treat yourself to time. Get that book because you love the cover. Tell your friends to get you new inks and colours for your birthday or ask for that nerdy T-shirt. Take a moment to have a solo coffee and read a book about other artists and their experiences. Invest in your creative life and fill it with things you find interesting and beautiful. Allow your creative spark to grow and give you energy. It will change you.