Resisting Creative Projects
Do you ever experience stretches of time where the last thing you feel like doing is something creative, even though you know you’ll enjoy it and feel better after starting? That’s been me for the past month or so.
While I’ve done a few little things here and there, I’ve felt a lot of resistance to art projects specifically. I think it’s a blend of feeling a bit overwhelmed with a few other things in my life and also second-guessing my abilities.
Looking back through my goals and habits for 2021, I had included a weekly art project as a habit I wanted to develop. I was doing that more regularly in January, but it really dropped off in February. Even though it’s a short month, it can feel long for me sometimes. It’s a fun month because it’s my birthday, my husband’s birthday, and most of the rest of his family’s birthdays too! It’s typically a busy month at work, and then you add in the short days of winter, and it becomes easy for me to skip doing creative projects. Those times when I’m more likely to resist creative project are usually the times when it would help me the most.
All that being said, I want to have compassion for myself with the various rhythms in my life and start creating rather than spending too much time ruminating on why I haven’t created much lately! This past weekend while a blizzard raged outside I completed a watercolor lesson from the course by Shayda Campbell. I really enjoyed the process of learning to paint daisies even if they weren’t perfect. Then I was really brave and shared it on Instagram.
Completing one creative project got me thinking about this blog again. I’ve felt a little stuck on starting another blog post as well, even though I’ve had a few ideas running through my head. Taking inspiration from just jumping into the painting lesson, I decided to sit down and write about what I was currently thinking.
I’m sure this won’t be the last time I resist starting creative projects, but I’m hopeful that by focusing more on the process and how I feel once I get going on them, each time it will be a little bit easier for me to move through the resistance to getting started.
Do you also avoid creative projects at times? What helps you get past the resistance?
