Sowing the seeds of your own creativity

Some gentle suggestions

For those of us in the northern hemisphere this is the perfect time to sow our own creative seeds. That siad, any time is a good time to start. Our creativity largely rests in our subconscious minds and it sometimes needs a wee help to bridge the gap to our conscious minds. By doing so though, creativity can find a home in our daily lives. Once that is established you have a life tool that is able to shut down unwelcome visitors like anxiety and stress. The more you build creativity into each and every day the easier it will be to enter a state of creative flow. When in that state the stresses and strains of daily life ebb away and this gives your brain a much welcomed period of ‘time out.’

Like any life changes it takes time and commitment but the rewards have to be worth it? I began creating seasonally over 20 years ago and it is, without doubt, one of the best life choices I have made. By responding and connecting to the seasons you learn to notice so much more. My days of sleep walking through life came to an abrupt end when I retrained from performing arts to visual arts and my eyes opened to new possibilities. Back then night school was my only real option to start investigating my visual creative voice. 20 years on and look at the options we have available now. That said, I often argue that there are just too many options and to avoid overwhelm we need to be selective if we want to take classes or even courses. Like many though, you might not need to take any classes. A good teacher will be able to give your creativity a gentle poke and your mind will do the rest. You can, absolutely, be your own teacher.

Let’s take it back to establishing a daily creative habit. I am going to make some gentle suggestions of daily creative habits that speak well to our creative brains -

• Keep a nature diary or journal. Spend 10 minutes with it daily noticing and recording changes in the natural world. Draw, write paint, collage etc experimenting with different ways to record. In time ‘your way’ will rise to the surface and embed itself in your brain.

• Press leaves and flowers to capture favourite encounters with nature and create authentic natural supplies for your creative work.

• Sow some seeds inside on a sunny windowsill to remind yourself of the miracle of growth. Keep a growing record of the changes you notice. If you haven’t entered the world of micro greens this might be your moment. You get to eat the unbelievably healthy outcomes of your experiment. You may also find you can align your creative growth with the small daily changes you bear witness to in the seedlings.

• Create a small corner in your house dedicated to natural finds and refresh it regularly. Think old school nature table but add in some personal touches like candles or other ritual expression. My wee corner gets a daily visit and I do the same movements with my hands in that space every day. I shift my wee Buddhas round and then back to where they came from. I light the candle and I take a few moments to stare at the flame. This interaction with my wee corner is meditative and that offers me another useful life tool. It also prepares my mind for creativity. Call it brain training if that suits and this sort of activity is fundamental in creating new habits.

• Start a doodling book. Don’t call it a sketchbook unless that feels right for you. I began doodling as I decided I couldn’t draw and a doodle book was more comfortable for me to access. Doodle something every day even if it is just for a few minutes. If you haven’t stumbled across zentangle go and find it in the virtual world. It is repetitive pattern making at its absolute best and, as a practice, it was discovered by an artist and a Buddhist monk.

• Create a small box or basket of art supplies. I can hear some of you groaning from here as you contemplate the size of basket you would need! I once inhabited that world but I found too many art supplies just became overwhelming and I didn’t even use some of them. A few years ago I boxed up the supplies little used and gifted them to folk that I knew did not have any or many art supplies. Another great life choice. In my piece next week I am going to share my wee art basket.

• Tidy up your art box or basket when you have finished your creativity for the day. Re-set the space ready to access a clean and uncluttered space the following day. Physical clutter leads to mental clutter. We don’t need anymore mental clutter.

• Leave your phone in another room in the house. This is a big one for me. If it is with you, you will pick it up and you will start scrolling - you will! Apart from the obvious distraction your phone can offer you, you may start scrolling with intent looking for work similar to the project you are currently creating. This is a big solid NO from me. The blight of social media and associated sites (yes that does include Substack) is comparison. Comparison has its place in the world if it is used sensitively. I like to compare my heather moorland work, for example, with other pieces created using the same source. I like to see what other creatives have seen but that is where the comparisons end. I do not fall down the endless rabbit hole of comparing my work on merit with others. They have their creative journey and I have mine.

• Learn to stitch, knit, crochet or weave. This is similar to the points I made about a doodle book. All of these genres require a degree of skill to even begin and that focuses the mind. Focus in creativity is important if you ever want to enter the flow state. You will know when you have as you will simply lose time. You will also come out the other end refreshed and replenished. I am a huge fan of craft as a place that holds high levels of skills. You can start with a simple running stitch, for example, and end up teaching yourself a whole range of embroidery skills or you can use that running stitch to make a quilt. Whatever direction you take your new skill in it will fill you up with a sense of achievement and that is important in the creative world.

• I could go on and on with my suggestions but for this piece I am going to end with one of my favourites. Take a medium sized box out of your recycling. Use old magazines and other recycled papers to collage the outside of the box perhaps using a new season to inspire you. Spring is super for this task. Line the inside of the box with something lovely like tissue paper or a remnant of fabric. This is your ‘giving box.’ Set some creative time aside regularly to make wee handmade cards, tags and small gifts and pop them in the box. This box is wrapped in kindness and when you encounter someone in your world that needs a little lift select something from your giving box. When one thing is taken out it will prompt you to make something to replace it. Share your creativity in a way that makes a real and lasting difference to others and your new daily creative habit has a purpose beyond you. We all need a purpose beyond oursleves as it is this that keeps the world turning.

I hope that my suggestions are helpful and that you are ‘called’ to ones that inspire you. Don’t try and do them all! Select ones that you feel are easier for you to start with. Bookmark this post so you can revisit as you need to or even print it out and add your own ideas. In time, you will find your way and one day you will realise that creativity exists in your every day - just where it belongs. Let it become your constant companion and it will never let you down.

Sending creative vibes to you all,

Fiona x

Welcome to my wee corner of Substack. I am a seasonal artist living on the Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland. I am the custodian of approximately two acres of land that includes a woodland, a meadow and my wee garden. I offer a seasonal book arts project for paid subscribers if you are interested and you can read more about that HERE. Grab a cuppa and lets delve into our relationship with the shifting seasons….