Hello old friend….just like that, a few weeks went by. I had the fun I promised myself and was so busy having fun I didn’t make time to write. And I have been consumed, consumed, consumed with the final stages of my house remodel.
I had nearly resigned myself that this blog might just go on hiatus until I finished the remodel. But tonight I missed writing and returned to one of my favorite recent books, Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic, for inspiration.
I opened the book to an interesting part – highlighted in pink pen, of course, because I am a nerd. I love to highlight what I read so I can revisit and easily see my favorite parts.
Big Magic is all about embracing your creative self. No rules, no expectations, just creating. Because.
Her book spoke to me because it encourages you to throw off expectations and just create. With purpose or without. With substance or frivolity. Whatever makes you happy.
The part I flipped to was about having an affair with your art. Likely provocative by design, the uber point is that people persist with efforts in life because they are in love. For creators? They need to treat their art like an affair. From Elizabeth, “When people are having an affair, they don’t mind losing sleep, or missing meals. They will make whatever sacrifices they have to make, and they will blast through any obstacles, in order to be alone with the object of their devotion and obsession – because it matters to them.”
She encourages, “Let yourself fall in love with your creativity like that and see what happens. Stop treating your creativity like it’s a tired, old unhappy marriage (a grind, a drag) and start regarding it with the fresh eyes of a passionate lover. Even if you have only fifteen minutes a day in a stairwell alone with your creativity, take it. Sneak off and have an affair with our most creative self…..don’t think of your art as burdensome; think of it as sexy.”
I never thought about this blog as sexy! But WOW – now through an all new lens. I say this in jest – this will not be a sexy blog. But I love the push to embrace this blog with renewed passion and also per her encouragement, to write about what I know. And keep investing in your art – for whatever purpose makes you happy.
In many ways, designing a home from top to bottom has become my creative outlet. It will end soon. Along the way, I’m going to try to remember to visit this little lover of a blog with passion, reminded of the joy it has brought me.
The Redefining 