It feels like I spend entire seasons learning and re-learning that my creative practice does not always produce sellable items.
Ya’ll just went “duh”, didn’t you.
I realize this is common knowledge to most everyone in the world. But my brain? My brain chants “make cool stuff, make it a business, so people take you seriously, so people will like you.” Sometimes I actually start believing it.
So how do I realign my thoughts with what creativity actually means? Just gently give myself some weekly reminders to repeat over and over.
- Sometimes my creative practice is make this/throw it away. And that’s okay.
- Sometimes it’s mixing sidewalk chalk colors with my kiddo under the hot summer sun and letting the rain wash it away the next afternoon.
- Sometimes it’s painting lake rocks with my sister on the dock of our family cabin, and leaving them behind for the next person to find.
- Sometimes it’s decorating homemade bookmarks on the porch to give away at our Little Free Library.
- Sometimes it’s making 50 seed bead bracelets for the kids on my swim team and giving them out for Valentine’s day.
And sometimes it’s make this/sell this.
I have to do all the other parts to stay motivated and open. I have to do all the other parts so that when the inspiration strikes, I’m ready to enter a season of deep creating TO SELL.
Every step of creativity is worth the moment.
