Take a break to focus on yourself

The time always comes when we need to shake up our routine a bit. Maybe that means exploring close to home or a new adventure. If you’re unable to plan a trip, an at-home retreat can do wonders to soothe your soul and reinvigorate your creative practice. Plus it doesn’t require you to purchase anything; it only entails intentionally setting aside time for yourself.

The threat of burnout is real, and using the tool of a one-day retreat can help you manage your stress levels and notice if you’re experiencing any emotional exhaustion warning signs. 

In addition to being a time to reflect on how you’re feeling, it gives you a chance to dive into creative activities you’ve been yearning to do. I’ve always found creativity to be a safe container. It brings beauty to messiness and a sense of peace to the chaos.

Download the checklists for your one-day creative retreat.

One-day creative expression retreat itinerary

Setting up for success is vital to ensure follow-through on your retreat plans. It helps you minimize distractions as well as provide prompts for you to continue engaging with the process. You’re setting up a seamless experience. Your future self will thank you. (Don’t forget to download the “One-day creative retreat checklists” from the resource library).

The day before:

• Set up your space. A retreat day is a fresh start, so hide or cover up things that notoriously distract you.  Put your devices in a drawer so that you’re only using the ones you truly need for your creative process.
  
  Tidy up the night before, so you aren’t killing precious time tomorrow. Set the tone with a flower or some greenery from outside and a candle or two.
  
  Make the things that you want to do more accessible. Bring out your supplies for your project so you can just flow into action. Place a candle and matches next to your meditation spot for tomorrow.
  
  

• Prepare for the expected parts of your day. Make all your minor decisions before the retreat to reduce your decision fatigue and impart a sense of ease. Have healthy and simple meals ready to eat in your fridge (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks). Put out your water glass and a mug with your herbal tea of choice. Choose your outfit for tomorrow (make it a comfy one!) so you can focus entirely on your creative expression.
  
  Pick a couple of guided meditations to listen to, as well as music and playlists to fuel your practice. Have your journal and a pen ready. Set up an inspiring book or two near your favorite chair. I find poetry especially inspiring to launch into a creative frame of mind.
  
  

• Unplug from your usual routine. Plan to be alone. Let people know you won’t be available. Set up an auto-reply if that will put your mind at ease. If television is part of your daily routine, unplug it after your last show tonight.
  
  If possible, download everything for tomorrow to your phone so that you can keep it in airplane mode for the duration of your retreat. Your retreat begins the moment you fall asleep tonight!

Read next:

37 tips to build your creative stamina

The day of your retreat:

• Guide your creative expression practice with the spirit of play and exploration.

• Take breaks as needed and be gentle with yourself.  Ask your body what it needs, and pay attention to its response.

• Take a nap. While you may find this day to be productive, that isn’t the point. The focus is on rest and restoring your creative spirit and energy.

• Don’t judge what you’re making today. Focus on the process, not the result.

• No need to be rigid with your schedule; if you’re in a creative flow that feels good, keep going!

• Try something new, whether it’s breathwork during meditation or a new color in your palette, a retreat is a great time to try it out.

• Get at least one walk in your schedule. A Stanford study shows that thinking while walking leads to more creative thinking.

• Disconnect: no social, no email, no television.

Sample Schedule:

Morning

8:30 Breakfast

9:00 Journal

9:30 Begin your creative practice for the day

11:00 Take a tea break: read, rest, stretch, daydream

11:30 Listen to a guided meditation

Afternoon

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Nap

2:00 Return to your creative project

3:30 Snack break: stretch, read, lay in the sun

4:00 Get some green time, take a walk in local nature or a park for inspiration

4:30 Creative time with 15-20 minutes of clean up at the end

Evening

6:00 Dinner and a short stroll

7:00 Listen to inspiring music

7:30 Stretch

8:00 Reflect on your creative process that day. Freewrite in your journal for 10-20 minutes.

8:45 Get ready for bed and read

Download your free one-day creative retreat checklist from the resource library.

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Do this before scrolling more art studios on Pinterest

If you’re raring to take action with your creative expression, but feel like you need to create an inspiring practice space in your house before beginning (a home-studio if you will), this post is for you.

Before you start setting up a home studio, YOU need to start taking up space in your home. That’s right, another mindset shift before opening your wallet.

All that stuff (organization systems, styling, fancy furniture, a door you can close, etc.) is just icing on the cake. Try not to feed into consumerist tendencies, as exciting as they can feel in the moment. Set yourself up to work with what you’ve got before you bring in a bunch of new variables.

Making room for yourself

Enacting this mindset shift to take up space may require:

• Getting rid of uninspiring things.

• Being a temporary minimalist to free up space for you and your practice.

• Self-permission to get messy/quirky/weird.

• Having a “socially unacceptable” living space that works for you.

• Discussing with your roommates or partner.

• Getting real with yourself about what your priorities are.

• Making some significant changes in your life.

Some of these approaches are not easy to take action on. But when you focus on aligning with your unique needs for self-expression, you’re already making room for yourself mentally. I find this to be highly therapeutic.

Make expressing yourself a more prominent priority

Here’s what you can do today to turn your home into an expression studio that fits you.

Questions to ask yourself first:

• If someone walked into your home today, would they even know that you/your family live there in particular?

• If you had complete freedom, how would expressing yourself in your space look? (Would it be murals on the wall? A curated display of textiles? A yoga studio instead of a living room? Hammocks instead of sofas? Gold-foiled everything?) Dream big here.

• What is the bare minimum of space you need for your creative expression?

Then take a walk through your home, as if you were viewing it for the first time, and see what areas welcome these new expansive ideas.

No wallet needed

These changes do not require purchasing anything right it away. Instead it might look like:

• Moving things you already have into a more visible space.

• Grouping together a collection of things you already own in a way that inspires you.

• Getting rid of things that generally wouldn’t make it into your donation box so you can prioritize space for what matters to you.

• Repurposing a space or an item to serve your creative needs.

Don’t worry too much about the actual square footage you’ll occupy. Turn your entire home into a space that supports your creative expression habit or have a small area that expresses who you are and what’s important to you. Put your expression front and center instead of hiding your feelings in a dark closet somewhere (or turn that dark closet into a well-lit tiny studio 😋).

Sometimes taking action on these steps can feel scary, like you’ve shown up to work in a see-through outfit. If that’s the case for you, set aside a moment to feel into that fear and locate where that’s showing up in your body. You can even bring it into your creative expression practice!

Read next:

37 tips to build your creative stamina

Align with your why

Are you continuing to feel overwhelmed about where to start? Take a peek at your values sheet. Then, reflect on whether your personal space embodies those values. For example, if your goal is to “dance with inspiration,” make sure you have room to dance.

I’ve done this in my home too, so I know how unusual this new way of approaching your space can feel. For example, healthful living is one of our core values in my home. I’m personally a fan of the functional movement teacher, Katie Bowman.

A couple of years ago, reading her work inspired my partner and me to buck socially acceptable norms. After months of deliberation we got rid of our sofa (gasp!) so we’d move more and keep our bodies healthy.

Creative growth is also a value of mine. It’s why my art hangs in most rooms in my house. It’s always there on the walls so I can reflect and learn from my work slowly over time.

Stay flexible and resourceful from the start

Most of 2020 I worked exclusively from a coffee table. I was interested in how being closer to the ground would affect my work. It was a great experience! I’ve expressed my heart out and grown so much in my practice at that coffee table. 

So let’s think outside the box! Some ideas for creative, functional workspaces:

• Coffee table

• Kitchen table

• Kitchen counter

• Floor 

• Outside

• Sofa

• Garage

• The park

• A reading nook

• A window seat

• Your parking space

• Closets (mostly for audio)

• Sidewalks

• Front or back yard

• Your car

• Foldable outdoor table

• A picnic blanket

Even when you have a fancy studio someday, you can continue to create in unusual places for the joy of it. There is no rule that you have to box your creative expression into one place.

You might even find you like it more than you thought.

Remember this on your journey

Your creative practice is flexible and can grow and shrink along with your lifestyle. It will look different for everyone, but that’s the point. We all have our own needs and priorities. It’s part of what makes life interesting. 

How much space are you willing to take up in your home? And how will you use it as a way to express yourself?

You don’t need everything to be perfect before you begin creating. Let your home and practice be a reflection of your life TODAY, in the present. Every moment counts!

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“If you've lost focus, just sit down and be still. Take the idea and rock it to and fro. Keep some of it and throw some away, and it will renew itself. You need do no more.”

-Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Energy can feel nebulous even during the best of times. Are you finding yourself in a significant adjustment period? You’re learning to cope with managing unexpected transitions right now. It’s normal to need to recalibrate. Likewise, it can feel exhausting when so many changes are happening at once. 

Your creative practice can be a beautiful refuge from the chaos, but if you just can’t find the energy to start or continue your creative practice, then this post is for you.

Your energy tool-kit

I use every single tool I’m sharing with you to rebuild momentum with my creative expression habit. I’ve collected these tips from teachers, mentors, and peers over the years. And I have so many more to learn (if you have any that have worked for you, please let me know)!

A word on mindset

Mindset is the framework you mentally build for your practice. Remember: 

• You are safe. Know that you are safe at this moment. Use your creative expression practice to show your anxious mind that you are out of harm's way. This reinforcing technique calms down the fight, flight, or freeze reactions in your body. 

• Don’t judge yourself while you’re making something. Don’t throw anything away yet! If you get stuck, move to the next thing—forget quality, seek growth.

• Stay flexible and curious. The world around you will always be changing, how interesting is that?

Okay, now that we’ve established your foundation, let’s move on to pumping up your energy!

Energetic housekeeping

I’m sure there are many ideas on this list that will sound familiar. It can help to try reading each suggestion with fresh eyes and an open mind. Even if something didn’t work for you before, it just may today.

Keep it simple and easy

Overwhelm can turn off your creative drive in a second.

• Practice your creative habit for 15 minutes once a day to start; that’s it.

• Exhausted? Do it tired for one moment; this may be the boost you need and will lead you into continuing. Focus on moving your practice forward at your own pace. Give yourself the grace of even one moment—touch the paintbrush, put it in paint, touch the paper, and you’ve met your quota, everything else is extra.

• Micro-steps. Think of the next smallest step you can take to move forward. And then break it down even further (it can help to write this down).

• Work smaller, literally. If you usually work 32x32,” work 12x12” instead. Are you aspiring to write a novel? Try short-stories first. Or flash fiction.

• Body awareness. Get things flowing: shake your arms and legs, dance, move around, breathe. Get your energy moving.

• Try it lying down. Sometimes you just want to lie down and chill on the sofa. Set up a little creativity kit by the couch, so there’s a queue to turn off the TV and crack open your project. A kit is also helpful to have ready during times of recovery.

• Express yourself! Reframe your practice as a sacred time to express your feelings at the moment. That’s all it needs to be. Invite your heart into your practice. PLAY!

• Imagine. Think of an animal that best expresses how you’re feeling right now. Do a doodle of what you’d otherwise be writing. Put yourself in the shoes of your future self, and listen to what they would recommend for your life at this moment. Visualization is powerful.

• Use prompts. If you’re feeling brain dead, get a little help from prompts to help get your juices flowing again.

Break up with perfection

Perfectionism is a huge energy zapper. Sometimes you just feel like everything you make sucks, and you’ve lost your creative mojo. All you want is to get back to doing good work!

These thoughts are perfectionism. It’s a sneaky bastard. Here are some tools that can help you notice when you’re in perfectionist mode. Just remember the real antidote to perfectionism: Compassion.

• Make ugly things. You don’t need to like the result for it to have value. Trust me, I spent a year painting over my paintings in an attempt to master a new medium, and have very little process work to show for it—a considerable loss for documenting my journey and learning from my mistakes.

• Try something new. Getting out of your comfort zone is a crucial offering of your creative practice, and you can do it from the safety of your own home. It can be as simple as adding a new paint color to your palette or committing to a different creative activity, like moving from painting to improv.

• Make your practice a safe space. Explore ideas, emotions, and questions without shame. 

• Find a good therapist or counselor. Perfectionism wears many masks and can be hard to recognize as it’s happening. A good therapist can call you out on your self-sabotaging tendencies.
  

Identify energy drains

It can feel like a bummer at first, but sometimes we need to cut things out to make room for what matters.  You may be shocked by how much energy you were putting into stuff that doesn’t align with your values.

• Root out decision fatigue and simplify your routines, within reason (otherwise this can quickly become an energy waster too, trust me).

• Strengthen your intuition. Create a quiet time to listen and learn from your body in the present.

• Recalibrate. Have you been giving away your energy by seeking outside approval? Extricate yourself from typical energy sucks like dieting, materialism, toxic relationships, linear thinking, pushing yourself, rumination, industrialization, and the patriarchy. Turn to more balanced systems. If you have the bandwidth, do an energy audit and cut what is no longer serving you.

• Pause your shows and YouTube subscriptions. They’ll be waiting for you when you come back. If you need your fix, use it for parenting yourself: treat yourself to your favorite show after 15 minutes of your practice.

• Focus on one thing at a time. Multi-tasking is another sneaky bastard and cherished in our culture. Try making your practice a sacred space where you do only one thing at a time.    

Nourish your soul and fill up your well

When your sense of fulfillment is waning, or you’re burnt out, it’s easy to convince yourself to wait until inspiration strikes. Don’t listen to that thought; it’s a lie. 

• Tap into the spiritual. Explore mindfulness, Reiki, tarot, meditation, self-inquiry, prayer, journaling, or any other manner of ways to connect to your true nature.

• Seek beauty and love. Train yourself to find the beauty in this world. Go outside. Fill yourself to the brim with love exchanges in your relationships.

• Reflect on what’s working. Before bed, consider 1-3 things that helped you feel more present today.

• Be a treasure hunter. Snap a mental picture of a treasured moment then use it in your practice. Daydreams can be excellent sources of inspiration.

• Formulate a nourishing space to create. Have things ready to go (basket/desk/closet/room) uninterrupted. Even digitally, for example, if you’re a writer, have the Freedom app running, and docs on your desktop ready to be cracked open at a moment’s notice. Find a place that works where you can have a pretty good environment to create (read: NOT PERFECT).

  Bonus tip: Having things ready means less energy used to start-up.

• Create an inspirational home environment. Bring beauty inside with flowers, paintings, and things that get your wheels turning. You’ll fill up your tank subconsciously while eating your breakfast and staring at seasonal blooms.

• Rest. Unfortunately, it needs to be said; you can’t have enough energy if you aren’t getting enough sleep, period. Remember to say goodnight to your screens hours before you tuck yourself into bed. Find places to sneak rest into your day, nap in the afternoon. Take regular breaks. Side bonus: Your life will slow down and feel more spacious too!

• Change your outside to influence your inside. Create a ritual where you change out of work clothes into comfortable clothes, or simply put on an apron to signal to your body that you’re ready to be in creative mode.

• Take a vacation at home. Sometimes you need to shake up your routine. And while we can’t travel right now, we can set up parameters for a holiday at home: order take-out, try a new cookbook, sip a smoothie, have a picnic, and nap under the sun.

Be true to yourself

A creative practice is personal with public results. Sometimes that can get messy; remember always to go back to your center—you.

• Tune in to your values. Download my “Values in 15 minutes” guide and use your values as an energy compass. Values help ground you and give meaning to your habit.

• Create for yourself. Have you been creating for others and now feel burnt out? Go back to a core practice and create for yourself.

• Work on your boundaries. It’s common for the opinions of others to become internalized critics. The primary way to prevent critic creep is to set up clear boundaries. Again, a therapist can be invaluable in setting up bouncy boundaries.

  Bonus tip: We live in a world that glamorizes sharing, but you aren’t obligated to talk about your work if you don’t want to. You don’t owe anyone an explanation.

In short, DO YOU. 

Get help when you need it

Creative practices can often be solitary and don’t have a central support system. You will need to advocate for yourself, sometimes even to yourself. Gather up the courage to ask for help. I’m still learning this one and struggle between the point of needing help and asking for it. 

• Listen to your body and check on your health. If your lack of energy is hard to shake, talk to your health care provider as it can be a symptom of any number of health conditions.

• Join a community. Become part of something that keeps you accountable. It’s one way to create the structure for your habit while also inspiring and being inspired by each other’s dedication.

• Get accountable. Due dates! They’ve saved my creative ass on more than one occasion. But sometimes you need more oomph.

  I’ve noticed that professionals (teachers, coaches, therapists) are great for holding me accountable, and sometimes my good ol’ Google calendar does the trick. 

  For you, it may be a new acquaintance, a friend of a friend, or even your partner. It depends and can take a few rounds of trial and error before you recognize who or what will work best for you.

  And don’t discount the strength of accountability to a stranger. 

Remember this

I’ve included more tips here than you will need to recharge your creative battery today. Creative expression is a non-linear process, so if anything screamed out at you, do that! Try something else on another day. Trust your intuition to lead you. It’s all just play after all.

The key takeaway here is that you can find the energy to make headway on your creative journey here and now. Each action counts as a step in your journey, no matter how small. If your thoughts are telling you otherwise, recognize it’s perfectionism in disguise.

If feelings of overwhelm are getting in the way, know that you don’t need to do this alone, ask for help when you need a boost. It’s not about competition; it’s not about productivity; it’s just about you finding your way back to your true self and uncovering your sources of energy.

Forget quality, seek growth.

If you have any favorite tips or stories of how your creative practice sustains you or you’d like to share about finding the energy to create, I’d love to hear from you.

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“Attention is the beginning of devotion”
-Mary Oliver

How are you feeling? Right now. At this moment.

Take your time, sense how your body is feeling. Tune in.

How is your head feeling? Peer into the middle of your head, the very center. 

How is your heart? Do you feel it beating? Or do you feel other sensations?

How is your belly? Does it feel soft, tense, full, or content?

Meditation, like this one, offers groundedness with little effort.  You drop into presence and get a sense of spaciousness that you can carry with you into your practice.

That space is magic.

You can use that space to nourish your entire life if you’re open to it.

What is different about a creative expression habit?

It focuses on the process, not the outcome. For around 15 minutes, you aren't practicing to produce the most, to get extra cash, or to impress someone else. Your outer actions align with your insides, to the call of your spirit, to your intuition and desires.

It’s heart-centered and values expression over technique.

It supports the whole you, even the messy parts.

This practice is for those who:

• feel lost, like something is missing

• are lonely or afraid

• are bored and restless

• want to open up but have forgotten how

• want to feel alive again, but from something nourishing not depleting

• need help regaining energy (that depletes too fast each day)

• have unintentionally turned away from the beauty of life

• feel like a stranger to yourself after seeking outside validation at every turn

• are bumping up against existential angst

I’ve had my ups and downs and experienced every single point above. 

Over the years I have learned how to build a creative habit that is

spiritually aligned - engages with the energy of transformation
nourishing - contributes to inner harmony and self-possession
growth-oriented - encourages exploration, self-awareness and getting out of your comfort zone

It’s flexible and honors who you are right now.

It creates a framework that benefits you as well as your relationships. 

I want to help you build an energy-giving habit that nourishes your life.

What exactly is a creative expression habit?

It’s a method that brings together the benefits of :

1. Creative expression

2. Meditation

3. Self-care

4. Energy work

5. Play

It simultaneously encourages fun, spirituality, embodied action, and approaching your life with a sense of love, curiosity, and exploration.

It isn’t an art-specific activity; all endeavors that allow for expression are great! Some ideas: writing, dance, music, bookmaking, woodwork, garden design, photography, song, cooking, movement, design, and more.  Plus, you don’t need to choose just one!

How to get started with your practice

There are many ways to begin, but this is the best order I’ve found so far:

1. Choose 1-3 activities that allow for expression

2. Get your supplies ready to go as if you were setting up a workspace for the laziest most tired version of yourself

3. Set up a sacred space in your home

4. Put it on your calendar like an appointment

Tips for starting your habit purposefully

Remember that there is no one “right” way. Here are some pointers that have kept me going even in hard times:

Make it part of your routine:

• Make it such a regular occurrence that you don’t have to even think about it. For me, that means just doing it most days. When I set up routines, I do not have to bring my frontal cortex into the minutiae, and it’s a little trippy. It feels like small favors that you’re doing for your future self.

• Keep it extremely achievable, aiming for 15 minutes is fantastic.

Keep it sacred

• Ground your practice in the present. Start with a moment of stillness and quietness.

• Eliminate distractions. Instead, try grounding yourself in the tactile and sensory stimulation of the natural world when possible.

• Take this time for yourself, dedicate it to what you want to do. Don’t let other people’s wants and needs get in the way of this time. Self-expression is paramount. Set up a separate time for collaboration.

Embody your inner artist

• Fill up your cup with inspiration. Little things count! Go for a hike in nature or try a new way of knot tying. It’s research and part of your process.

• When in doubt, DON’T throw it out. Decide on a date when you’ll review your work, say every six months, and edit your portfolio then. That way, you’ll get a chance to see the progress you’ve made and sense the path you’re on.

• Become part of a creative community. Follow people whose work you admire. They can help normalize all the feels you have about your practice.

Play

• Keep it fun, light, and playful. Explore new avenues, don’t limit yourself to what you already know you are “good” at doing. Don’t specialize unless you want to.

• Use supplies that make you happy. It can be as simple as lighting a candle while you write, using colors that make you smile, a silly pen, or a sketchbook with handmade paper.

Common questions about establishing a creative expression practice

Do I need to set up my practice for the same time every day?

It depends on your lifestyle. The time of day isn’t essential. Choose what works for you.

If that means doing it at 10 am one day and 6 pm the next, no problem.

Don’t beat yourself up if you’re not consistent, especially since you’re just starting. Be gentle and acknowledge that you can make your rules up as you go.

How do I choose what I want to do?

Perhaps take a walk down nostalgia lane. Think back to things you’ve enjoyed expressing yourself in the past. Make a list of your favorite activities. Or consider something you’ve seen other people do that you’ve dreamed of doing someday. 

It can also be helpful to consider what type of activities you enjoy in general and expand from there. For example, do you find yourself drawn to nature? What are some creative activities you can do there? Some ideas might include writing poetry about your favorite places in nature, artmaking with materials found outside, or using foraged plants in your cooking creations.

You can also download my Explore worksheet here to help you through the process.

Should I wait to start until I’ve collected all the proper supplies?

Nope.  Use what you already have, and feel free to create a beautiful, tantalizing collection of supplies in the meantime, but not during your practice time. Consumerism/capitalism will rear its head throughout your process simply because that’s our culture today. Use it as a signal that it’s time to go back to basics or even explore new avenues. 

Limit your supplies, especially when you’re beginning. It might feel counterintuitive, but in reality, simplicity shows taste and initiative. Bonus, it can free your mind to explore within your self-imposed limitations. Being resourceful is one of the most valuable lessons this practice can teach.

How much time should I expect to spend?

Fifteen minutes is a sweet spot that is both long and short enough to feel meaningful for the average person. But you aren’t ordinary, so find what works for you. Feel free to start with a single moment and build up from there. 

Creative energy isn't restricted by time or space. The most important thing is to shift into an expansive mindset, and you can do that in a second through stillness and visualizing spaciousness.

What are some ways I can make time in my schedule? I’m already swamped and can’t imagine fitting one more thing into my calendar.

Our culture tells us busy is best, and that often leaves us with no time to take care of ourselves. It’s very good at convincing us that everything and everyone else is much more important than you. The antidote to a crazy culture? Developing a healthy mindset.

You can start with just a 1-minute habit. In the meantime, focus on building supportive routines. Reduce your time spent on other non-supportive activities when you can. Some simple tweaks I’ve found to be helpful include : 

• Cooking time - only use 10-15 minute recipes or batch cook

• Errand time - keep running around limited to 1 day per week

• Screen time - wifi off at 10 pm 

Are there ways you can reduce or eliminate the time you spend doing any of these activities? Untouchable: sacred sleep time, make sure you’re getting more than you think you need.

How will I stay motivated?

Check-in with yourself often, with a more significant review each quarter or so. Make sure your values are front and center in your creative time. And remember, waning motivation can be a symptom of growth. Checking-in can help you adjust your practice and prevent advancing to burnout.  If you have already reached burnout, know it often means your habit is merely off track. Pause, reflect and rebuild.

Your practice is flexible, and it will stick with you even as you change. Pivot it daily if that is what your intuition is telling you. The main thing is to begin your journey.

As you tune in more deeply to your insides, you will likely notice positive changes that reach much farther than your creative habit. Exhausted? Check out my post on finding the energy to create.

How can I get my housemates on board?

Start without getting permission. Then share your enthusiasm and encourage their creative expression too. We are all born worthy of emotion; sometimes, your partner/roommates may also need confirmation that their feelings are valuable too.

How do I set up my space to create?

Start with little, then add slowly.  Make it a place you want to return. Fill it with love, even if it's just a backpack filled with your notebook and pens—tuck little reminders of what’s important to you in every corner. 

For example, I have realizations taped to my wall as reminders for moments my process becomes challenging. Experiment, find what works for you. Keep your most-used supplies ready for action by making them easily accessible.

Should I wait for inspiration to strike?

Absolutely not. One thing I’ve learned as an artist is that inspiration often shows up when you’re busy working and is never guaranteed. But if you’re approaching your habit playfully and creating from your heart and taking time to express how you’re feeling, inspiration becomes secondary.

The purpose of your creative expression habit is to get in touch with your true nature, instead of looking for something outside of you to bring meaning or approval. Sometimes when you’re stuck seeking inspiration, you’re just worried about what other people will think.

Can I create things for other people in my practice time?

Yes, use the skills you’re building to spread joy, but be sure that at least 15 minutes of that time is just about you.

Can I do this on a budget?

Of course! When you have to limit your supplies, your resourcefulness can shine.

Recycle and reuse materials; it’s good for your wallet, creativity, and the earth. 

If you’re broke, keep things extra simple. Use a pencil and acid-free paper. Movement is free. Or improvise using your daily life, get creative in the kitchen, eat your creations!

What if I’m not good enough? How do I get over my fear and start?

If you’re doing it, you’re already good enough. Thinking you’re not good enough is perfectionism in disguise. Tap into your heart.

 The cliche “The only way out of fear is through” is one I’ve found to be accurate, so I recommend facing your fears regularly with love, especially during your process. Permit yourself to begin imperfectly.

The last thing you need to remember about getting started

The process is EVERYTHING. You will feel like you’re flying blind at times, it’s okay, trust that the process will hold you up. Nothing can be seen with total clarity until it’s over.

Getting started can be so sweet. Give yourself grace around this first step. By staying anchored in the present, you can fully participate in every moment. Learn what shape it takes, what it feels like in your body — get close with something that is paradoxically uniquely yours and universal.

Allow the flow of your true nature by awakening your heart and allowing your expression to flourish.

Join me on this journey whose roadmap we all carry in our bones. 

You’re made for this.

I'm extremely honored to be a part of your beginning.

I believe in you, and I'm so excited for the start of your creative growth journey!

Share your story of beginning with me.

Sending love,

P.S.

My Setting Up guide breaks down this process in easy-to-follow step-by-step increments.

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