Creative Quickie – or how I avoid becoming frustrated
Dear YOU.
Are you sometimes feeling a blast of inspiration – perhaps during a break in your work day when you just remembered to take 10 deep breaths? Or in the late afternoon, before cooking dinner and dealing with whatever your early evening tasks look like. Suddenly you feel the urge to DO things, write, arrange, create, build, sow, rearrange?
And do you then, not very long after that, feel a deep and burning frustration of not having enough time or energy to even begin, let alone complete that project you felt so inspired about just an hour earlier?
That´s how many of us feel during our busy lives. And that is exactly why, at a point in my life when I was very frustrated, I created the concept “Creative Quickies”!
It´s so simple and it only takes 5 – 10 min´s to do it. And, it gives your inspiration a place and outlet that in itself can be very healing.
(Creative Quickie: “Just let it out – your life – your beautiful secrets – side by side with your darkness. It is all part of you, all of it! You are OK.”)
Here is how it works:
- Browse a magazine – or anything you have with pictures in that it is OK to cut out; now find 1 – 3 images that for some reason speak to you. Don´t try to understand why, just tear them out (I rarely use scissors)!
- Glue the image(s) randomly on a blank piece of paper, using a glue stick. I use a notebook without lines, but it could just be a blank piece of paper.
- Take a deep breath, and then write whatever words come to your mind. It can be one word, or several sentences. If you wish, add some doodling. Any writing tool will work, but I love to use a permanent marker, so I also can write on the glossy magazine pics. Allow yourself to be a little silly/bold. Embarrassing even.. Enjoy the freedom: no one has to see this, it´s just for you!
That is it! This way, you can create small “dream-carrier-pages” and know that in 10 min´s you have both been creative AND kept your bigger dreams alive until a day where you will have more undisturbed time and energy to act on them.
There are periods in life where we just don´t get to act much on our creative dreams. Perhaps we are busy building a family, we struggle with health issues or have a very busy job. It is ok not to have much time or energy to be creative for a while when other tasks crave more of our focus. That is simply life, too.
But it´s not ok to feel as if our thoughts and inspiration doesn´t have a home any longer. A Creative Quickie can, amongst many other benefits, be a remedy for that. It is like listening to your creativity, saying: “I am still here, and I hear you. I know you want to play. At some point, you and I will get more time to hang out, but for now, let me just listen to your dreams”.
Hope you will enjoy trying it out!
Seriously, 10 minutes, a magazine, a glue stick (or tape!) and a pen. You can do that, and your creativity will thank you and reward you in ways you can´t even imagine. I promise!
Love from Lise.
(Creative Quickie: “Dear myself. I love how you lean into life. Over and over I can count on your willingness to TRY. Thank you, Eternally, me!)