As I was playing around with ideas for my next Creative Play Night in Salida (which is tonight:), I grabbed my white crayon to create a crayon resist background. It hit me that this technique is a great metaphor for something I am always working through — creative resistance!
People often tell me I’m creative, and I like to think I’m creative (because I truly believe each of us is creative in her own way), but I often feel that I’m not very creative.
My lifestyle is full with client work & projects; outdoor play & adventure; my home, community & friends; and just everyday life…and it often feels like my creating takes a back seat.
How can I be creative if I don’t always put my creating first?
I see so much cool art out in the world, and I compare my art to what I see.
How can I be creative when so & so’s work is just so cool looking — mine feels so blah to me in comparison?
These thoughts can make me resist even trying to create.
I also know that these are just thoughts my mind is making up. I know that my thoughts can take over if I let them.
Creativity takes so many forms – it is not just visual art. It is part of how we live our lives and we all have our unique styles.
My mermaid musings are infused with all kinds of different adventures – all creative adventures in their own way.
I guess my point is – if one wants to feel & be creative, it is important to show up for life – all of it. Life includes creative messes and creative masterpieces. It includes times where you may create a lot and some times where creating seems to fall away.
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Creative resistance shows up every time I craft a blog post. What is my point for putting these musings out in the world, I think?
I want to share my creative adventures in all of their forms – the raw & messy and the masterpieces – even when I’m feeling resistance. And I want to inspire you, dear reader, to embrace your creative life in all its forms, too.
I’m a life long paper junkie and playing on paper, for me, is an important part of my creative life. And if I don’t show up to this on a regular basis, then this form of creating becomes even that much more difficult – and I feel like I’m not creative.
This year I am striving to show up for my playing on paper creating more regularly. (If you’ve been reading my musings for awhile you probably realize this isn’t the first time I’ve expressed this…and it probably won’t be the last:) And I think sharing my musings helps me to show up!
I love this “playing on paper” form of self-expression. It is so accessible for my lifestyle, and it allows me to create/play/get messy/try new techniques and have fun. In the end I usually like what turns up. And even when I don’t relish the result, I love the process – the process of being in my life.
What kind of creative messes and masterpieces do you enjoy creating?
xox,
xox
xox
P.S. If my mermaid musings are inspiring for you, I’d love to have you join my community of intrepid mermaids who receive my monthly mermaid tales. You can sign-up here. I hope to meet you there:)
the mountain mermaid 