Making time for creativity (and why you should too!)

The greatest gift we can give ourselves is no expectations. When we free ourselves from having to live up to or deliver according to expectations (aka perfection), we can truly be in the moment and present. We grant ourselves permission to create or make as we did when we were kids.
 

 

This April through July, I'm giving myself this exact freedom. For Elle Luna's 100 Days Project, I'm creating 100 collages using supplies I've been stockpiling for eventual projects over the past decade or so.
 

Are you participating in Elle Luna's 100 Days Project?
 

There never seems to be enough time. But running out of time is an excuse. A procrastination technique.
 

 

What types of items on your to do list never seem to get done?
 

Putting clean clothes away? Mending? Mopping the floor? Cleaning the toilet?
 

Reading a book? Drawing? Organizing your photos into an album? Taking a walk around the neighborhood? Driving up the coast?
 

 

I have piles of clothes that need mending or tailoring. I have art supplies purchased for projects I never got to.
 

Years ago I learned it was important to take time for one's self. (I along with other managers participated in a coaching program based on Cheryl Richardson's Take Time for Your Life.) My roadblock--the reason I never had enough time--was guilt. I felt guilty spending time on projects that didn't serve a purpose other than to make me happy. I felt guilty taking time away from making money or spending time with family and friends. AND this was before I was a wife and a mother with MORE demands on my time.
 

 

The point of Elle Luna's 100 Days Project isn't in what you create. It's in the process of creating day after day and how that might change your life. Why not give it a try? Not convinced? Read about these benefits you'll see when you create.
 

Benefits of Creating

It's easy to not make the time to create. Rather than thinking of it as a nice-to-have, reframe it as self care.
 

"The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world."
  - Malcolm Gladwell
 

 

Here are three ways a regular creativity practice can improve your overall well being:
 

1. Focusing on positive life experiences.
2. Enhancing your self-worth and identity.
3. Expressing experiences that are too difficult to put into words.

 

So why not instead of picking up your smartphone and entertaining yourself, spend that time making? (Think you're not spending much time on your iPhone? Download the Moment Screen Time Tracker app and see for yourself.)
 

 

Take Twenty Minutes a Day, Don't "Hope" You'll Find Them

Unsure how you can take twenty minutes for yourself without feeling guilty? Read my tips for how to take twenty minutes.
 

"In creating, the only hard thing's to begin;
A grass blade's no easier to make than an oak."
  - James Russell Lowell
 

 

Supplies for a 100 Days Collage Project

Don't have any crafting supplies on hand? Here's a journal and some unique papers for a 100 days collage project:
 

• 100-Sheet Sketchpad Artist Pro, Watercolor, and Acrylic Art Pad for Sketching, Ink Sketch Book, Coloring Notebook - 98 Ib / 160 g/m2(*affiliate link)
• Elmer's E4016 CraftBond Extra Strength Glue Sticks, 4 Sticks per Pack, 6 Grams per Stick, Clear(*affiliate link)
• 8 x 20 in Banana Leaf Paper 10 sheets, assorted colors(*affiliate link)
• 8.5 x 11 in Thin Mulberry Paper 35 Sheets, assorted colors(*affiliate link)
• Black Ink Decorative Paper Pack, 8.5 by 11-Inch, Meadow Flowers Cream(*affiliate link)

 

Follow #100DaysProject_RemnantCollages on Instagram to see my 100 creations.
 

Additional Resources: If you'd like to read research about the connection between art and health, here are some articles and studies that go deeper: Art Can Be Good for Mental Health; The Connection between Art, Healing, and Public Health - A Review of Current Literature (2010 February, American Journal of Public Health); and Creativity and Emotional Well-Being: Recent Research.

Credits: All layouts designed by and images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.

DISCLOSURE: This post contains affiliate links, followed by (*affiliate link). I feature products that I own or that I am considering purchasing. All opinions presented are my own.
 
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