Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Crazy, Sexy Creativity


I haven’t done much talking about my 365 project lately.  As I’ve probably mentioned, I got stuck on one of my daily art journal entries and then found myself getting behind.  I haven’t caught up yet.  I’m not ready to give up, though.  I’m still finding ways to be creative on a daily basis, even if it’s not my art journal, and I am still working on the art journal a little at a time.  On the weekends, I sometimes have a little more time to be creative, so I try to get a few pages done at a time.  At this rate, I might catch up by the end of the year. 

A lot of people would give up at this point.  Or maybe they never even started.  I mean, why even start if you know you can’t finish?  Why try when you know you can’t succeed.  To you, I say, “Can’t never could do nothin’!”  How do you know you can’t succeed if you never even try.  Even a little bit is better than nothing.  I may not have succeeded in creating an art journal entry every day, but I most certainly did create more than 100 pages of entries in my journal, and I’m still creating.

Besides, the point of the 365 wasn’t to finish 365 page layouts or art journal entries.  The objective is to do something creative every day.  To make yourself create, even when you don’t feel creative.  To set aside that time for yourself to do what you really love and to give yourself the freedom to explore it in different ways.  By setting aside the time to create every day you set up a habit of being creative and you learn to work around obstacles and distractions.

I started thinking about the 365 project today while I was reading the Scrappersaurus blog written by Deidra Famularo, who used to own scrapbooking stores in the New Orleans area.  Back in March 2012, “Dee” said, “Those customers who knew me when I had the storefronts open can tell you what I always preached to them, ‘An appointment with the doctor is considered important enough to schedule time off from work or time away from everything else. However, if you don't consider yourself important enough to schedule some time off from your usual, hectic routine, it more than likely will turn into a doctor's appointment, forcing you to take time off.’"

Dee is absolutely correct and she’s not alone.  Kris Carr, on her Crazy, Sexy Wellness Revolution website posted an article by Casey Lorraine Thomas titled, “5 Steps to Stop Overeating.”  In the article, Thomas, a certified detox, health and life coach, states that you should “find a way to build in some time every day to do something you love, that gives you a creative outlet for self-expression, and that allows you to be exactly who you are or takes you a step closer to that,” and that there are no excuses about having no time or energy to create because “you only need five minutes to start doing this. If you have more, that’s great. If you are honoring your needs and desires by acting on them every day, you will be far less likely to look for the answer in cake. Self- satisfaction and happiness comes with nourishing your whole being – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually – consistently. This is your way out.”

I couldn’t agree more.  So the next time you are craving a cupcake, why not paint one instead?  Or scrapbook one.  Or crochet one.  Or….  Just spending 5 minutes of every day doing something creative will completely change your outlook on life.  And at the end of 365 day, you will have been creative at least 30 hours more than you would have if you hadn’t even tried.  Thirty hours is a lot of creativity.  I bet you’ll find that you’re even more creative than that.  And if that ain’t crazy sexy, I don’t know what is!


Today, I leave you with a quote attributed to Buddha.  I think it is particularly apropos.  Our creativity is inside us, we just need to use it to let it out!


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