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2020 is here and your creative self has come to party!
The hard truth is, 2019 could have been a lot better. Or to be more accurate, you could have been a lot better. Many things got in the way of your most creative self. I feel ya.
The “problem” was inconsistency. A new month would roll around, the fire of creativity would ignite your heart and your mind back up again. Only to dwindle and fall back down to your toes come week 4.
Beyond your grasp stood that creative person you feel in your gut you are meant to be. But that little bugger is weird. She’s indecisive. She has a knack to rush in with a new project and then leave you with the mess.
2020 is it!
The place is here and the time is now. I’m telling ya. But before a tsunami of “what-ifs” and “I can’t(s)” bury myself and my good intentions, I’m here to say, let’s buddy up!
Yes, creativity comes from deep within your self, from a cold and mysterious place, (much like the frozen pit where Elsa fell in the last act of Frozen II). I believe that’s the same place where self-accountability comes from.
But there’s no need to go alone in this adventure. Before you reach that far down, there’s a lot that we can do together to bolster our confidence, and our creativity, in small easy steps.
Why would you want to make the effort to make this year creative?
Plenty of reasons my friend! But just to mention a few:
- Better sleep (mind and heart feel at ease)
- Fuller days (not busier…fuller as in fulfilled)
- Balanced mood (or the capacity to bounce quicker from inevitable bumps of human existence)
- Better relationships (you are not expecting anybody else to fulfill your emotional needs)
- Purpose (something to do that is meaningful and feels authentic to you)
Now, what is holding you back?
If creatives have one thing in common is our insecurities. We have a tendency to undervalue our potential and under-appreciate our contribution.
To make this our most creative year yet we must put some scaffolding in place to prevent us from falling back into that mind-death-trap.
If the above reasons why you should make this year your most creative yet are not compelling enough, is not that those reasons are not valid, you must find a “why” you care for a deeply believe in.
For 2020 you need a why that is…
- strong enough to stir yourself back to the creative path when ordinary life gets in the way.
- big enough to incorporate that ordinary life as part of your whole creative life.
- bright enough so it will shine over everything you do, and the way you do it.
- deep enough to touch the core of your self, and alight the creative soul that lives inside of you.
Creative Confession: Where did I start my 2020 journey?
As I was writing this, one self-sabotaging thought has crept into my creative headspace: is it too late to set the year to a good (creative) start?
Yes, I do suffer from the many ailments of “creative types“, namely: overflow of “great” ideas, daily bouts of procrastination, distractions at every turn of my imagination, the need for external validation, not enough internal motivation.
FOMO…then JOMO…and darker things that I’d rather not unpack in this short re-introduction post.
Here I go again…
I’ve been in a love-hate-neglect-love-again relationship with this blog for years.
Since I self-published my first book, back in 2015, I’ve been trying to blog more consistently about my creative process, my writing, my experience as a freelance, my passion for the written word and the evolution of content on and offline.
What has happened? Why so many false starts? Why? Because…other projects, other interests, life, long hours browsing for inspiration, long hours wasted in the wide world of the web, allowing myself and my mind to get sucked by it.
Back in December 2017…
I decided to give this blog another go. I spent hours re-imagining the color scheme, the name…two very important things! Then, I was asked to collaborate on a project, a new business venture, an online store, and to help design and populate the website, social pages and had a ton of fun.
A chunk of my 2018’s creative energy went to that and never came back.
Back in August 2019…
That’s when I last recall diving deep into this blog. Not before spending months working on yet another blog…
This time, I wanted to focus on making the creative confidential blog more of a resource for creatives, and part of a professional website featuring my freelancing services.
I even had the unexpected chance to edit a speech for an entrepreneur being honored by a cultural and historic institution.
But then, a new project took me off the development of my web, blog and social platforms. All my creativity went to making that project shine, and I’m still invested in making it grow… I thought, “there’s only enough creative energy to go around”…
Act creatively to be creative
And that’s the truth.
To feel creative, you have to be creative and engage in creative tasks, even when you don't feel motivated to do it. Tweet MeIt has taken me 3 years and 5 days to realize I need to generate my creativity to feel and therefore to be more creative in my life and at tackling the challenges and new experiences that might come my way.
That’s the beauty of working freelance and collaborating on creative projects!
With that I can now truly say, bring it own 2020 😉
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