creative motivation Archives

Posts

Finding my way back

This is a post just for the sake of ‘creative expression’. The last time I wrote was on the 11th of July and we’re almost a month further now. I have been feeling under the weather for many weeks, which explains my absence. I went from an inflammed molar to a tooth extraction with complications over the course of 6 weeks. I don’t have to tell you that feeling sick or having pain is energy draining! There was no energy left for the things that normally give energy: writing on this blog, photography, painting, flowers, stenciling, designing, … Read more →

Showing up for creativity

Showing up for creativity, what a challenge! There are so many days I just don’t make something, write for my blog, paint, decorate my house, … You and I don’t have the perfect life after all. We have a lot of duties, chores, a difficult situation in life sometimes. Anyway, life can get in the way of what you would love to do all day: create.

‘I can’t move forward enough because I don’t have time’ was a very prominent thought. I decided to let that go. The thought itself was a crippling one. Ofcourse, time is an issue, but the thought was slowing me down more than the issue itself. If my blog and creativity are so important to me, I just have to MAKE time. And so I did. Read more →

A lagom summer

I started writing this post with just a couple of words in my head and a lot of overwhelming thoughts, but that’s part of writing. Getting chaos down on paper in a structured form. The words were: lagom, summer, self-care, creative block and productivity pressure, so you can sense already in what direction this post is going. Read more →

My ‘wintersleep’ or hibernation

I haven’t been writing/blogging lately, I know. It was a conscious choice I made a few weeks ago. Just because I deserve my hibernation for a few weeks :). The climate here in Dalarna pushes me into hibernation. It’s cold, snowy and dark and this has an effect on my whole being. I know it’s called hibernation in English and not ‘wintersleep’ like in wrote in the title, but that’s just a wink to my first language Dutch/Flemish where we use that word. Read more →

Finding meaning when dealing with circumstances

What an interesting week it has been! I had originally planned to spend the entire Easter weekend painting furniture. I was very excited about it. Unfortunately a sudden pain in my back and shoulder made it impossible to do any physical work for a couple of days. Lifting my right arm to paint was too painful.

Within a few hours meaninglessness and boredom hit me. It seemed like nothing could motivate me. I had even lost the desire to create anything else than a painted furniture piece. It was a meaning crisis, something a few of my coaching clients struggle with. Something all creatives struggle with from time to time: what makes our life meaningful? How do we find meaning when we think we have lost it? I had to put into practice what I tell clients. I needed to figure out a way to find meaning and motivation again, and most of all despite the imperfect circumstances. Read more →