Are you yearning for your own creative time?

I have a creative practice. What do I mean by creative practice? I have a way of interacting with myself, my thoughts, my reading, my curiosities, my worries and the things that are making me unhappy, that involves writing, painting, drawing and making collages. 

I do this practice daily in sketchbooks, creating what is often termed visual journals. In fact, the photo of the journal spread you see here combines collage with notes taken from a Lisa Sonora workshop on The 7 Creative Powers and visual journaling.

A few weeks ago, I shared a couple of my journals with two friends. They were amazed by the breadth and thickness of the journals – the colors, the words, the pockets in which I hide more words, the imagery – both drawn and created through collage.

My friends started to talk with me about how they used to express their creativity – “I used to collage,” one said, “I used to paint.” said the other.

They described how they let their creative yearnings fade as they had to step fully into their responsibilities and roles as parents and employees and partners. I was not surprised by what they shared –  it is natural and expected that we have to prioritize our responsibilities, and that those responsibilities can push creative times for ourselves to the edge, or even completely off the table .

What did surprise me as we talked was the strength of their yearning to be creative again.

Is it necessary to choose between creating for yourself and taking care of what needs to be done? Or is there a middle ground?

We talked about ways, like my daily visual journaling – that could help them fill the creative hunger.

Since these interactions, one of my friends has started her own visual journal. She sets aside 30 minutes twice a week. She is taking this time for herself, before her youngest child wakes up, to spread paint on the page and to write without stopping and allow the feelings to emerge, whether they be feelings of sadness, release, joy.

This practice of journaling, whether that be with words and/or images, provides a place, a container to explore and speak out – to get the thoughts, feelings, confusion OUT of the body – so the body does not have to HOLD it all.

We often expect our bodies to hold all of our frustrations, griefs and pains – but we don’t have to use our bodies that way. Visual journaling takes the load off the body. 

Seeing my friend set up her own creative practice gives me such joy. It is amazing to see her step into her inner voice, to listen to herself and generate energy for herself from her journaling.

Just 30 minutes twice a week….a bit of paint, some free writing, a few magazine images and glue to make a collage…these simple creative practices can be a container to reclaim yourself.