Hi First name / friend,

 

Alexia here writing to you from my studio in Nashville. The other day I was in the midst of making a log cabin block for an ongoing project I am REALLY excited to complete. As I sat at the sewing machine my inner voice rang with an eager thought, “You know, I’ve always wanted to learn how to make woven beaded necklaces! I should do that. Maybe I should do that now!”. I am drawn to new creative outlets like a raven gliding towards a shiny piece of tin foil while holding a coveted plastic milk bottle cap it just found in its claws. 

 

A curious nature and desire to learn are a constant hum in the back of every creative mind I know. The elevated mood we seek, that need to learn or engage in something novel is not a fatal flaw in us. We are lucky to be motivated by this desire. This desire is the font of creative expression. 

 

The push-pull of a curious mind is a tendency we can nurture and wrangle. And engaging this side of ourselves by learning or practicing new things makes us not only feel good in the moment but contributes to our longevity and mental wellness. Look at us, doing self care without even knowing it!

 

However enjoyable and engaging my main creative focus is, when I allow myself (or when necessary, force myself) to take time away to do something different I find the benefits are holistic. I bring that excitement back to my primary project, and I feel like I have taken a very deep breath of fresh air. The foggy dullness that sets in when I’ve been immersed in just one thing for too long clears and I am able to come back with more clarity and perspective I can apply to the project that just got tired. 

 

I am still learning how to manage this “step away and return” process. Over these last few years I have honed in on what I need and worked to accept these needs. I no longer beat myself up or stereotype my curiosity as flaky, “I just have a short attention span”, “I only like starting things”, or ask “Why am I like this!?!?” questions. Recognizing that I have limits, that there are times when just pushing through is more harmful in the long term than helpful in the short term has been a real step towards creative wellness in my life.

 

It has taken me so long to realize that discipline is required in managing this creative wellness, because, to me, first and foremost, creativity is about freedom and boundlessness. I think this is just the natural expansion we want to feel as creative people in a very structured and commercial world. We want to repel the messages around us that compress and lessen our creativity and we crave freedom from anything that oppresses or stifles our voice. This freedom is a necessity. We also need boundaries. We need edges to keep us on a healthful track. This discipline is our tool to ensure that we carve out the time we need, that we start to identify our limits, that we do a little bit of harnessing so that what we give ourselves has balance and longevity.

This exercise can help you clarify your needs. Imagine a creative focus in your life. This creative focus could be your work, your primary hobby, something you’re striving to make your vocation, or a skill you want to master. With this one focus in mind, make a list of some of the skills and tasks you utilize in doing this thing. I’m going to use designing fabric as my example.

 

Drawing and painting.

Screen time at the computer or ipad.

Problem solving repeats.

Coloration.

Physically exerting my hands in a tight rounded way with the keyboard, mouse, and pen or pencil.

Sitting or standing at my desk.

Gathering inspiration and using my imagination to create a cohesive structure for my collection.

Now look at your list and take time to assess the physical and mental energies you use in this process. Working down your list, think about things that would alleviate or be a reflex to each task.

 

Drawing and painting - working in three dimensions instead of two.

Screen time - time outside looking both near and far.

Problem solving repeats - creating free form work with no boundaries.

Coloration - creating some work where the color is chosen ahead of time and limited before you start, say working from an image or a palette generator, alleviating the process and energy spent on color choices.

Physically exerting my hands - stretching and strengthening my hands or doing something that changes the movement up i.e. if I’ve been typing and using the mouse maybe I need to get in the garden and dig in the dirt squishing it through my fists and using larger hand movements.

Sitting or standing at my desk - moving my whole body.

Gathering inspiration and using my imagination to create a cohesive structure for my collection - thinking more free-form or doing something like improv quilt blocks that require very little of that structure thought process.

I have found that many of these ideas have sprouted from instinct. Year after year I’ve been paying attention to what I crave after completing projects. This has helped me see that I have a natural intuition about the refreshing change I need. This second list I’ve made is somewhat zoomed in, but analyzing it as a whole I see a theme around looseness, engaging my whole body, and being in nature or in the real tangible world instead of my imagination and the digital world of design programs. Looking over your list do you see any threads like this, any larger themes that help you hone in on what you might need to refresh your mind and body? You can let this be a framework to guide you to an outlet that can be your reset or you can take this information more loosely and use this awareness as a springboard to brainstorm and daydream a direction you might want to take your time of reset.

It’s challenging to give yourself time to reboot. Let me first share that I struggle every dang day to use a written calendar. This kind of organized behavior does not come naturally to me. I have to make very strong efforts to make myself do it and remember the benefits. Now, this doesn’t mean I don’t think about my time, my upcoming appointments and commitments, or create structure in my days. I have a tendency to just let all of these things float in my head. I try to remember everything up there in my mind rather than on paper. It’s pretty easy to see this is not a great method! 

 

Whether you are a dedicated calendar person or struggle with planning things out on paper, you can think about the time that is available to you. I think one of the most important pieces of this wellness I’m talking about is committing to the time we need to make this happen. Allowing time away sometimes makes me feel unproductive. But this measure is myopic and counter to the kind of healthy creative life I want. Look at your time and try to realistically carve out regular blocks in your schedule that are solely for this alternate experience, for the practice that scratches the curiosity itch. At first this is as difficult as remembering to drink water, but over time this will grow into a habit that you can’t NOT do.

At times it is still a struggle to make these moments of refreshment a priority. Even knowing how to spend that carved out time can sometimes be too much of a decision. When I have that paralysis I rely on the simplicity of a daily walk where I let my mind wander. And when that moment hits I’ll let myself off the hook for not choosing something obviously creative, knowing that my curiosity will be piqued soon enough. This week I think I just need to make that woven beaded necklace.

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