It’s Thursday and I’m Crafting my Life! August’s theme is creativity. Whether your dreams involve painting or writing or growing food or taking lots of naps, tapping into your creativity is an important part of changing your life. Last week I talked about practicing creativity by taking intentional creativity breaks. This week I’m going to talk about bringing creativity to everything you do.
I adore Seth Godin. I’ve talked about him before as part of this series, and I expect that I will talk about him again. He is pretty freaking brilliant. One of his ideas that resonates with me is the way he talks about making art. His definition of art is broad – it’s something that we give as a gift to the world, that we do with passion. He says that we can bring art to whatever we do.
One of my biggest a-ha moments recently was that I am doing this because I love it. I am deliberately re-inventing my life because I want to. I don’t love every part of it, of course. Spending your days with two small children and trying to cram in time to do freelance work and blogging and writing a book proposal is hard. Sometimes it’s also tedious and aggravating and all of those things that life with two small children can be. And it’s really, really easy to let the not-so-good parts loom large in my mind.
I start thinking that my life sucks because my kitchen is dirty even though I cleaned it twice today, and my kid is whiny, and my other kid peed on the floor (again), and my income is not quite what I hope it would be. I start to drag my feet because I convince myself that it’s all futile anyways. I ignore the kitchen and snap at my husband and yell at my daughter. I am not much fun to live with.
But if I remember that I have chosen to be here right now, doing this, my perspective changes. If I remember that I am following my freaking dreams, I don’t feel so burdened. Of course it’s not all sunshine and roses. Life is not all sunshine and roses. But it can still be pretty great, in spite of the spotty parts.
When I commit to a course of action, and throw myself into it without expecting something in return, things become easier and more fun. When I’m not busy talking myself into navel-gazing tedium, I can actually enjoy organizing toys and making the playroom look nice. I can take pride in a blog post instead of trying to get through it as fast as possible. I can throw myself into playing with my kids and we all have a great afternoon. I can take joy in writing an article query, whether it gets accepted or not.
When you bring creativity and art to your life, and give freely, you get so much in return. It sounds very Pollyanna, but it’s true. The folks that we look up to and admire are not the ones who are stingy with their time and resources. They’re not the ones who spend their lives bemoaning their fate. They’re the ones who live their art, who go the extra mile, who take joy in simple tasks. It’s not magic, really. We can do it too, and if we do, we will reap the rewards.
I am not that good at bringing art to everything. But I’m trying. And I really have found that I feel better when I can do it. And so I remind myself, more often than I wish I had to – I am doing this because I love it. I chose this. And I can make it into a gift instead of an obligation.
How do you bring creativity to mundane tasks? Please share!
August’s Crafting my Life series is about creativity. On the last Thursday of the month, which just happens to be the 26th, I will include a link up. To participate, write a post on creativity anytime in August, or track down a post you’ve written on the subject sometime in the past, and add yourself to the list. Then read everyone else’s ideas and thoughts and be inspired! Check out the link-ups from January, February and March to get a feel for how it works.
“I start thinking that my life sucks because my kitchen is dirty even though I cleaned it twice today, and my kid is whiny, and my other kid peed on the floor (again), and my income is not quite what I hope it would be. I start to drag my feet because I convince myself that it’s all futile anyways. I ignore the kitchen and snap at my husband and yell at my daughter. I am not much fun to live with.”
Oh man, I could have (almost) written that same paragraph. I’m trying to make things more colorful and creative around here. A new nature table, doing more crafts with the kids, more canning with pretty jars of fruit on the counter. If things look better, even among the clutter and the dirt, I feel better.
Summer’s last post … The End Of Summer
I admire that you are making an effort to infuse creativity into every day. I live my life going from task to another because I have to – I am almost on automatic pilot – and your post reminded me that I should try harder to infuse some fun and creativity into my daily routine. Thanks Amber!
Tanya’s last post … Parenting a three year old
It’s always good for our systems to inject a little creativity into our days. It can definitely help break up the hum drum of routine! My creative impulses lie in the garden. I planted an old fire pit recently. I’m currently taking apart a chair to turn it into a planter. This is what keeps me going. It’s my passion, and I’m lucky enough to be able to spend my spare time doing it. I hope one day it will develop into something that will pay me money too! Inside with the kids, we try to stay crafty. Lately it’s been to busy for any major crafts, although painting rocks with the kids was an early summer hit.
Laura’s last post … Unexpected planters- On the shelf
Don’t you just love Seth Godin? Danielle Laporte said once that she has an intellectual crush on him and I’d have to agree.
Your post reminds me of the way Thich Nah Han talks about bringing mindfulness to everyday to mundane tasks. I’m going to think on this as I go about my way this week.
While I’m creative in the traditional sense I am constantly reminding myself to be creative in the everyday stuff…the stuff I don’t want to do (laundry, cleaning, listening to whines) because I’d rather be doing the traditional creative stuff. It doesn’t come easily to me.
AmberDusick’s last post … we dont grow corn
I totally agree with you Amber that it is about your perspective on things. You can change the way you look at something and it has all new meaning. I can REALLY relate to what you wrote! When I catch myself falling in the direction I don’t want to go. For example this morning I did the snap thing because I was feeling overwhelmed, followed by the feeling that I would really like to take a lot of naps. The more I pay attention to how it is I am viewing everything the faster it is for me to snap out of it. It has gotten a lot better and easier for me with practice. My best approach to the mundane, I don’t want to take care of this AGAIN, has been humour. After that I look at things completely differently. I wish I figured it out earlier but I’m really embracing it now!
Wendy Irene’s last post … No – It’s Just a Word
That is a HUGE question!
I know when I don’t have a creative outlet in my life I get depressed (clinically, not just kinda blue).
Creativity can be expressed in so many ways!
Cooking is an artform that I embrace in waves. When I am feeling creative, the food I serve my family is of excellent fare! When I am too busy, it suffers and I regress to family staples like spaghetti, stirfries, or soft tacos.
Thankfully my current freelance has a goodly amount of genuine artistic process, so I do get a great dose that way. I find I get stagnant sometimes though and have to look outside my own contracts to get “inspired”.
Also, I LOVE taking photos with my digital camera…. L-O-V-E it!!!!!! I play, experiment. and really take ALOT of photos.
I would like to re-discover sewing and painting, but that may heve to wait for later.
*pol’s last post … Bathroom Paint
I probably don’t bring much creativity to my mundane tasks – that’s why I find the daily task of feeding a family quite tedious, though I love to cook (something special now and then). I need to remind myself constantly to bring joy – more than creativity – into those tasks.
Francesca’s last post … Japanese crochet books
Realizing that I am making a choice to live my life a certain way was a real epiphany for me. Every time I get really fed up with the dirty floors or whining children and start thinking about what it would mean to make another choice, I inevitably have a renewed sense of peace with my life. It’s not perfect, but I wouldn’t want to choose anything else.
just yesterday i was feeling not so rosy, and found myself dressing up a salad so artisitically it actually made me smile – and get back to creating. color matters. creative movement and placement matters. sometimes it’s just not so visibly recognized as art.
amy (cypress sun)’s last post … free to want
remember that you’re following your dreams . . . . I like that a lot. Thanks for a good post and the link to Seth!
Lady M’s last post … Unexpected Mashups
Go you!! =)
Jennifer’s last post … A Mom is Born…