Getting Creative

While we're already a month into the new year, it's early enough you may still be in the planning stage. Maybe you set yearly goals or make resolutions or compose a one or two-word intention as a focus for the year. Whatever you do, I hope it includes some form of creativity. And I don't mean in a general being creative in whatever you do kind of way. I mean literally digging in, getting dirty, and making a mess to actually create something.

I've read all the books that say being creative doesn't have to mean being active in a particular art form. Being creative goes beyond all that, you can be creative even as an accountant. Yes, reconciling bank statements, sales reports, expenses, etc. can take some creative thinking and can be very satisfying--especially after finding the stupid transposed number that had you bashing your head against a wall. But the feeling doesn't make up for the torment of getting there.

Which is why I worked so hard to get as far as I could from my old office jobs. But I've come to realize no matter what I do for a living (not much these days) I must make the time and space for creative play. I say play because that's literally what I mean. It seems these days anybody with any sort of creative outlet has or is trying to make it a business. But what if instead you just did it for fun. It can be a hard concept, but a few simple tactics can keep it from becoming one more thing to do.

Start in secret

Even if we're not turning our creative hobby into a side hustle, our need for approval leads to posting it on social media. That's fine, I get it. You made something amazing and want to share it. I've been there. But sometimes the expectation of other people seeing your work can be paralyzing. The fear of being judged not good enough keeps a lot of people from even starting. Say for example, you're a writer. You want to publish your writing, but every story idea you think of doesn't sound good enough. So, the story, any story never gets written. Don't worry that's a totally made-up situation that's never applied to me, as opposed to the following example taken directly from my life.

I am not a painter, in fact for many years I thought I had no artistic abilities and didn't bother to even try. Eventually, I put aside the need to be good at it and just started playing around. During the pandemic I started painting with watercolors. I had no plan when I started, it was just a way to pass the time while I was stuck at home. Most of them were pretty bad, but there were a few that I kind of liked. I ended up posting some photos on Instagram. There was one that I thought was actually pretty damn good. I ended up framing it and gave it to my mother as Christmas gift. If I started with any intentions of sharing the paintings, especially as a gift, it never would have happened.

Make it easy

I have a tendency to make things much more complicated than they need to be. Like my first attempt at a novel, where I switched between different character points of view for each chapter. And each character was written in a different tense and narration type. One character might be in third person and past tense, while another was first person and the present tense. Talk about complicated, it's no surprise it's sitting in a draw somewhere unfinished.

I've since learned that keeping things simple and easy is usually best. My newest and favorite creative projects are paint by numbers. Yep, it's quite literally the easiest thing you can do. I don't have to think about it at all. They give me a picture, paints and even instructions on exactly how to paint it. Some of them can get complicated with mixing colors and tiny intricate spaces, and yet I've pretty much completed everyone I started.

Partner up

As with the rest of life, doing something new and challenging gets easier when you don't go at it alone. I am extremely lucky to have found both a partner in life and creativity. Not only is he actually a talented artist, more importantly, he's not afraid of trying new things and making a mess. Together we focus on having fun together and not worrying about getting it right. If only everybody could be so lucky, I hope you have at least one person that you might enjoy a creative date with.

I hope my little stories will provide lots of inspiration to get you going on your own creative journey. Because I'm awesome, I've also compiled a list of books from people a lot smarter and more talented than me, that will likely help even more.

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