I repeatedly come back to the Jedi-powered conviction that we must do or do not, there is no try, we have to respect, cherish, and prioritize our creative practices because nobody else can do it for us.
But what to do when doing isn’t happening, trying isn’t working, or when trying isn’t really even a possibility? For this week, I have two tiny things that, as we’ll discover, aren’t as tiny as they seem.
For me, it’s engaging with the medium in any way that I can. Reading is a big one, or adding to my word pool, or thinking about my story while I’m walking the couple blocks between work and my parking spot. All of these are little ways of filling the well. Even very tiny ways are lovely; they add up. Even just thinking about your creative life, medium, practice, or project. Permission to be human in a crazy world: sometimes that’s all that’s available. But it is available! Like my friend Britta taught us with her kitchen sign a couple months ago: Even doing the dishes can be writing.
Have you ever seen this meme?
It’s one of my favorites (😂)—and what I’m suggesting is kind of like this! How to have your creative work or medium front-of-mind? Put your creative work and medium in the front of your mind.
If you’re a musician, it’s probably listening to music. Or maybe sometimes it’s singing, or humming while you do other things. For visual artists, it may be as simple as adding some interesting texture to your outfit for the day, flipping through a book about color, doodling while you wait for something, or making your grocery or to-do list somewhat prettier and more visually or texturally interesting with markers, taking a tiny extra moment to play with color, layout, or line.
The point is there is always a way to keep the practice alive in your heart and in your life, no matter what else is going on. At least a little. Always.
I know, sometimes we get so completely derailed it seem like we’ll never have the bandwidth for our creative work again, but the truth is we will. Nearly always, we will. Because keeping the faith can be hard, keeping it simmering on the back burner in the mean time is the best way to safeguard our creative impulse and energies so that later, when things settle down or open up or soften or somehow sweep clean for a brief, bright moment, that energy will be humming along, burning in the dark like a little pilot light, ready to spark back to life for us in a more immediate, actionable way.
The truth, too, is that regardless what else is happening, we’re still living the same 24 hours every single day, and most of us are profoundly blessed to still have some say in what we’re doing with them—even if it’s just what we’re doing in our heads.
Garbage in, garbage out. Light in, light out. This is the way. Fill your head with creative light when and where you can, even in random sneaky sprints or tiny sips so you can flick the switch and illuminate it when the room of your creative work invites you back in to inhabit it more conspicuously.
One of my very favorite psychology interventions is one I learned (surprise!) in a book: Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by research psychologist Dr. Kristin Neff. We also learned a lot about the science and practical application of this intervention in my positive psychology program, as its framework resonates deeply with many of the basic principles that underpin the field.
The self-compassion practice that Dr. Neff teaches is simple, and it can be a real game-changer when practiced regularly.
Recognize and accept that you’re experiencing pain or difficulty. It’s not easy to feel like this; this feeling is challenging.
Remind yourself that this is a human thing to feel, and lots of other people feel this. Many are feeling it right now.
Offer kind gestures and words to yourself. A pat. A deep breath. Kind words, like “I’m doing my best”, or “these things happen.”
One of my personal favorite things to say to myself in these moments comes from writer/coach Jen Sincero:
It really helps lighten the feeling! Be kind to yourself. You’re just a little bunny–and you’re going to be okay.
This peacekeeping self-compassion practice is useful not only in everyday moments of frustration, disappointment, confusion, or self-doubt around our creative work or our broader blocks and more general troubles, but also in deeper times of anxiety, despair, or anything in, around, between, or beyond them. At the end of the day, we’re all just little bunnies, bumping along, trying not to get eaten. When you find yourself in a dark or dodgy moment, try to lighten up, be nice, cut yourself some slack, and then get on with the business of living and being present in your head and in your life, doing what you can to shine up the place.
Being consistently nicer to ourselves helps cultivate more compassion in general, which spills out into other areas of our lives, improving all of our work. Kindness is catching. Pass it on.
Hope this is helpful! Hop onward, creative bunnies.
Love & light from the margins,
ali ✨
Star in the Margin is free and open to all, but does require lots of time, love, and energy! If you’re into the vibe and want to cheer me on. . .
Related reading:
Swamp Daisy Music All Day
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Mar 9
Greetings from daylight savings and the first inklings of spring! Are we there yet? Wow, Vermont is an icy muddy melty MESS. There’s a reason (there are so many reasons) why spring cleaning is a thing. This time of year makes me feel like I need to scrub not just my entryway and my car and my boots, but wow, my head. Mud season of the mind! Anyone?
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