50 Ways To Recharge By Getting Creative
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In my anti-resolution manifesto, I joked that I wanted to sleep for the whole month of January. In reality, it isn’t sleep that I need.
Well, I do.
All mothers could use more sleep, I suspect.
But really, what I need is to have my well refilled. My creative well, my energetic well, my heart well. I’m parched.
As an antidote to this, I have committed to doing something creative every day. Creativity, like sleep, usually falls to the bottom of the list of things we do for ourselves. We feel like we don't have time for that. It feels frivolous. “I’ll get to it some day...”
But truly, creativity is necessary. When I spend regular time being creative, I am more creative. I am more relaxed and curious about the world around me. I interact with my child and my partner in new and more patient ways.
When my creative well is filled, I connect more easily and openly with others, and I can more easily see and respond to their needs. This is especially apparent in my interactions with my daughter. Recently she really loves to play with puppets. She wants us to “do the dragon show,” which means she wants one of us to talk to her using a dragon puppet. When I’m tired and spent, I really hate doing the dragon show, and cut it short or just say no. But when I’ve had some time to do something creative for myself, I’m more willing to become the dragon and chat away with her, following her imagination. It allows me to connect with her on her terms, and in return I get a glimpse into her world.
When I feed my imagination first, I’m more able to feed hers.
It doesn’t take a big commitment to invite just a little more creativity into your day. It is more like a perspective shift, or a small invitation. Will you try?
Here are 50 ways you can exercise your creative muscle. Use this list as a jumping off place to invite more creativity into your life.
Read a book (even just a few pages).
Go for a walk.
Have a conversation using puppets.
Build a piece of furniture. Assembling IKEA furniture counts, too!
Color. Get your own, grown up, coloring book.
Build a fort.
Sew a button back on something that lost one. Or mend a hole with a colorful patch (making your mending visible is very trendy!)
Build a spaceship with Legos.
Build a village with wooden blocks.
Make up a story about someone you see today. Where are they going? Where have they been?
Tell a made-up story to your kids at bedtime.
Sing a song.
Have a dance party. Make up a new dance move and give it a name.
Start a fairy garden.
Write a letter. By hand. Mail it in an envelope with a stamp.
Write a poem. Haikus are a great place to start.
Sew a piece of clothing for yourself or one of your children.
Knit something.
Crochet something.
Combine knitting and crochet.
Make bread. Create a sourdough starter from scratch.
Try a recipe for dinner that has an ingredient you’ve never tried before.
Rearrange the furniture in one of your rooms.
Go for a photo walk. Take at least 30 pictures.
Print out a photo and doodle on it. Or use an app on your phone.
Get out some paints and just play.
Paint with your kids. Do what they do. If they are painting with their hands then you paint with your hands.
Take a class.
Carve a stamp out of an eraser or a cork and stamp with it.
Print a photo you love and put it in a frame.
Make ice cream.
Combine your clothes in a way you have never tried before.
Try a new accessory.
Look up a new way to tie a scarf and try it.
Read a “choose your own adventure” story. Or write one.
Draw something, either real or imagined.
Create your own smoothie recipe.
Invent a cocktail.
Get a bouquet of flowers and re-arrange them into two or more vases.
Use a dry-erase marker to write an affirmation on your bathroom mirror.
Go for a walk and collect natural items that reflect the season. Make a nature table.
Drive somewhere you go regularly by a new route.
Introduce a new board game to your family or re-fresh an old one with new rules.
Play 20 questions with your kids.
Make a collage with only papers from your recycle bin. Tear, rip and glue with abandon.
Don’t feel like you have time for creativity? Try spending just 15 minutes a day doing something creative. You can find 15 minutes.