I’m convinced that Pinterest was invented to put moms like me to shame. You know the kind of mom I’m talking about – just creative enough to WANT to make edible snowmen and hand painted wine glasses, but not skillful enough to pull off anything that closely resembles the original image. Crafting is one of those gifts that God sprinkled sparsely on me – filling me with desire and courage but not so much actual talent. Same thing with singing. But that’s another story.
The problem with the Pinterest approach to being creative is that it focuses on the outcome or the result, rather than the process or the journey. If you think about it, we’re all creative in our own ways. If you like to garden, cook or sew, you’re creative. Or maybe you like to journal, dance, paint or go to the theater. That’s creative. You might like making scavenger hunts or enjoying role-playing games with your children. You guessed it – you’re creative. No matter what your interests are, I am certain there is a creative mamma inside you somewhere.
I learned all about the artist within myself from my friend and mentor Whitney Ferre of Creatively Fit. She taught me to resist the Pinterest Perfection and bathe myself in the beauty of the creative process. She forced me to let go of the final outcome by teaching me to paint 26 paintings on the same canvas – each one covering the previous week’s artwork. There was no time for judgment or regret or even pride. It was all about the process. [Read more...]
Jennifer sat silently on the other end of the phone. She came to me for help managing her time and structuring her day so she could work on her business while homeschooling her children. I asked her what she did during her office time that week and she couldn’t answer. She honestly couldn’t tell me what she had accomplished – although she knew she had been busy all week. She was sure she had worked hard every day but she didn’t make a dent in the priorities she really needed to tackle.
