Confession: despite the best of intentions, I don’t always manage to play in the Creative Sandbox every day.

Nope. Sometimes I stumble pretty badly.

Take this past week, for example.

What with multiple deadlines up the wazoo, all converging on the same day, all my goals for slowing down and NOT overworking flew right out the window.

It was like the “bad, old days,” when I used to work late into the night every night, and rarely made time to play and create.

No ArtSparking. No playing in the Creative Sandbox.

I even forgot to meditate for three days in a row!

I did manage to do my daily 3x5x365 mini-writes, which was good. But this was not enough fuel to keep my creative spirit glowing happily.

I was not a happy camper.

The difference between now and the “bad, old days,” though, is that now when I stumble like this I don’t use it as a way to beat myself up (which, of course, only used to multiply my suffering).

Instead, I use my stumblings as an opportunity:

• To remember that I’m human.
• To notice where my life and behavior differs from how I want it to be, and ask myself what I need to do to move in that direction.
• To treat myself with the kind of compassion and kindness I would extend to a beloved friend.

And then I get right back on the wagon.

Like my latest ArtSpark (above) says: “Remember: the most important practice is just getting back on the wagon.”

Today I got back on the wagon

I was Ms. Crankypants all morning. I knew the only thing that would shift my mood was some Creative Sandbox time. So I pulled out my paints and pens and ArtSparks-in-progress, and I just started playing.

“What would happen if I add some brush strokes to this piece?” I asked.

In fact, some of the paint dripped before I could make the brush stroke. Oops… Ah, well, I did what I usually do in that kind of situation: I added some more drips. 🙂

“What if I type a block of  text in a strip down this one?” I asked next.

Then, “What if I pull out my circle ruler and draw some circles?”

Just a swish here, a swash there, and pretty soon my drafting table was covered with wet-and-drying ArtSparks-in-process:

The best part: in no time at all (literally, I think I spent about 15 minutes total), my mood went from crankypants to thrumming and smiley.

Playing in the Creative Sandbox does that.

My Favorite Power-Tool

One of the things that I know always helps me clear space and time for my creative spirit is community.

Support, encouragement, accountability, simply having my creative self recognized by kindred spirits — these are all powerful tools to help me make sure I don’t cheat my precious creative spirit of the nourishment she needs.

This is exactly why I created my new course, Get Sparked!

If you could use some support connecting (or re-connecting) with your creative side and becoming more mindful, I invite you to join me for 30 days of cultivating joy and delight in the nooks and crannies of your life.

Another confession: Get Sparked! just as much for me as for you. I’ll be responding to the prompts and sharing my creations and insights in the private Facebook group along with everyone else!

So if you’ve been wanting to come play with me, jump on in today. The party starts on Tuesday, November 5th (my birthday!)

I hope to see you inside!

[button link=”https://melissadinwiddie.com/get-sparked” type=”big” color=”orange”] Register Now[/button]

PS — Pssst! Know someone who might benefit from seeing this today? Pass it on!