It has been a couple of days since I posted here, following my piece on fragility. It has also been a couple of days since I finished a piece of art. I have been giving myself space to breathe and it feels good.

When I awoke with the word “fragile” on my mind the other day, I knew I had to learn from it. Why, when I was doing something I loved, something that should be fun, was I feeling so exhausted? What was supposed to be a pleasure had become a chore and the joy, which was the intended outcome of daily creativity, had been replaced by anxiety. Whilst I was still enjoying the actual act of creating, I was feeling pressure to deliver. Pressure to make something good. Pressure to have something to share, something valid to say. This pressure, of course, came from me, nobody else.

I felt at first, that the important thing was to create something every day, regardless of all else. I made it my mission to push on against resistance, to put on a brave face and create no matter how I was feeling. Whilst it felt good to achieve my goal, the sense of satisfaction was dampened by the emotional and physical exhaustion. This was an unsustainable, reckless form of creation. Surely a better approach would be to do what feels right when it feels right and to acknowledge, examine and seek to understand those struggles and feelings of resistance and learn from them. So, for the past two days, I have taken time out to reflect and return to my original aim for this project.

In sitting back and examining my project so far, I see that in trying to focus on my art, I had lost sight of my original intention. I remembered that my original idea to inspire and celebrate creativity in everyday life sprung from a desire to bring more creativity into my own life and to encourage others to acknowledge and enjoy creativity in all its forms. It was not to stay up too late making art like there’s no tomorrow, worrying about whether or not I would manage to create something original and post my next blog entry before midnight. So on Thursday, a rare day at home with no kids, I did what felt right. I tackled the chores I had been putting off for the past week; I cooked; cleaned; rearranged; listened to music; to discussions on the radio; I went out for dinner on the spur of the moment. I felt great. And importantly, I took the time to notice the creativity in many of my daily actions. On Friday, I did the same. I did what felt right, spent time on activities that bring me joy and I did them with awareness. I had coffee with friends and engaged in lively banter and exchanges of ideas; I worked on the garden – cutting the grass, planting new life; I started a couple of little sketches, but let myself not finish them; I cooked up little apple and blueberry pies, topped with stars; I fell asleep early with my boys and awoke at midnight to spend a little bit of time writing, unpressured. The natural, spontaneous creativity returned.

So today, I am celebrating the creativity in the ordinary and the everyday. I am honouring the inventiveness in the things we do without really thinking… fiddling with a recipe; dressing colourfully; taking a little detour on the way to work; distracting the kids with a new game in the car; arranging a little still life on the bedside table or flowers in a vase… the list goes on.

We create our own lives, every hour, every day, and there is delicious creativity that slips by unnoticed in the smallest of actions.

My challenge to you is to take notice of the many wonderful, creative things you do as you go through your day. Be mindful. Acknowledge this creativity in your daily life, do things with awareness, take pleasure and pride in these little achievements.
Please share your experiences here.