December 22nd, 2019
On Creative Living
What comes up for your when I say “Creative Living” or “Create your Life”?
Does it excite you? Or is it anxiety-producing?
Or maybe you’ve got question marks dancing in your head 🙂 What the heck is she talking about? This is probably not for me.
You may be thinking: “But Sophie, I’m NOT a creative person! I’m not an artist. So how do I apply creativity in my life?”
Here’s the thing: If you are waking up in the morning, if you are living and breathing, you are creating. Therefore, you ARE a creative person.
Everyone is.
We’ve sort of given the title of artist to those who practice what we as a society have defined as “creative arts” (e.g. drawing, painting, sculpting, etc…).
But the definition of an artist is also “one who professes and practices an imaginative art”.
Living is art, people! And the more imaginatively you do it, the more it will look like living rather than just following a set of steps.
Living is a series of choices that, stringed together, make-up the canvas of your life — the experience of your life.
It is most definitely a creative endeavour. Or it CAN be as much as you want it.
But we’ve been taught to follow a certain laid out plan of what other people think is the way we are supposed to live our lives. And collectively we follow this plan. And when we follow this plan, the creativity and the art part of it tends to be lost.
But folks, the possibilities of making art are available.
Think about it for a second. What if you were to take just one day and make art with your life.
For one day, you choose moment by moment, each stroke and do something of your choice. Something that speaks to you. Something that brings you satisfaction.
Just one day! Pick a day! And for the love of god — don’t make it complicated or significant. Just have a day where you have fun creating it. It could be a choice of experiencing something for the entire day, or it could be choice by choice, with a number of smaller experiences during the day. Up to you!
And don’t try. Just go with it.
The thing about making art is that you just make it. You don’t need a degree in anything. You don’t need someone to tell you that it’s ok to call yourself an artist, or make art. You are the artist of your life! And no one has the right to tell you you’re not.
What if your life IS a canvas? What will you create?
And the thing about it is, you won’t know what it will look like until it’s done. And that’s ok!
Are you willing to start even though you haven’t a clue what the outcome will be?
Now, this is for one day… If you want to string them and continue creating your life, there’s all kinds of cool and fun ways to do that too! Tools — like having different brushes and different colours.
So, for now, go out and make ART! And have fuuuun!