How to Stay Creative

Even when the world sucks.

Hi friends.

For the past few years I’ve been working quietly on a project. It’s a book about how to be/stay creative during emotionally challenging situations, be it grief or trauma or feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world. It is also about how to deal with aging in general. I have been dabbling a bit in writing about some of it here in shorter form but also I’ve been working on a longer form version, too, with full-length essays and chapters. I’m always kind of digging in and taking notes on it and I have a folder that exists on my desktop that feels pretty alive.

I must confess that there are times I can’t bring myself to go anywhere near the project. There’s a pragmatic, service-oriented aspect to it, but there’s also a memoir aspect living alongside that. It feels so vulnerable sometimes just to open up my heart like that. Writing memoir never gets any easier for me. But I want to write it so it can exist in the world. And also I want to write it so I can have it for myself to refer to whenever I need it. I want to create something helpful.

I have to fly out this week to go look after a family member who is having surgery so I brainstormed some fresh ideas yesterday morning on keeping my creativity steady while I’m gone. Sometimes these lists get a little repetitive but there’s always something new that emerges from it, and I’m glad I’ve been keeping track of them.

Anyway, I thought I’d share the list with you today. It feels a little raw to put these ideas and feelings out there but also it feels nice to talk about this project and express what I am trying to do to look after myself.