Alto Art
A Year of Living Creatively

A Year of Living Creatively

By September 25, 2023January 9th, 2024Art Journal September 2023-2024
artists in boston uk

Baby Steps

“It doesn’t matter how slow we go, so long as we don’t give up on the things that matter.”

Hello world!

It appears I became hyper-focused on the wrong thing in my previous post.

Having had time to mull it over, I realise that finding my “art style” is not really the direction I’m ready to go in yet. Instead, I want to go broader: I want to add more creativity, curiosity and joy to my life as it currently is.

I live a good, honest life and I am blessed to have many good, honest people around me. Another advantage I have is being three decades into my existence on this planet. I now recognise that labels are not nearly as helpful as I once believed, and an art style is something that grows, develops, and evolves with life and experience.

It is now my understanding that my actual goal for the upcoming year is simply: to live more creatively.

What does “living more creatively” mean?

Different people no doubt have different definitions, but to me it just means making more room for exploring creative pursuits. Historically, I have minimised the importance of making time to just be, to simply take in my surroundings, and to respond to them by expressing myself through one of the many creative outlets that exist.

Am I getting too existential for you? Let me try to make it clearer – time and money have been inextricably intertwined for me for most of my life. I don’t consider myself a “materialistic” person, and yet I have always minimised the importance of hobbies and interests that are not monetizable. I grew up in a family that struggled to make ends meet, so for me any investment of time and effort required some outcome in order to be worth doing. Ironically and consequently, I have often gotten into the habit of using my “relaxation time” for less creative pursuits such as browsing YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, playing Sims 4, or some other hobby that is more on the consumerism spectrum than the creative spectrum. Don’t get me wrong – I am not demonising the internet or times of mindlessness – I do and will continue to need times where I zone out and become a vegetable in front of a screen! But by minimising the intrinsic value of creative pursuits as worthy of doing simply because of the way they benefit me mentally and emotionally, I have done myself a disservice.

So, back to the original question… Living creatively, for me, looks like spending time pursuing learning opportunities in things I am interested in. Staying curious. Searching for inspiration. Reacting to said inspiration! Over the past few months my mental health has been on the blink, and I’m glad to say I got plenty of the right help. Meanwhile, I have been able to realise the many things I still can learn if I just let myself!

Is everyone creative?

The Cambridge online dictionary defines creativity like this:
creativity defined
And I personally believe the answer is yes. Everyone I’ve ever gotten to know has had some form of artistic/creative outlet! From gardening, to cooking, to home decorating, to web design – you name it, some ability to produce or use original ideas has been required. The words “original” and “unusual” are way too relative for me; it depends so much on what is considered “normal” so it’s a bit of a self-defeating definition.
"Everyone – adults and children alike – has a creative streak. But while most of us have a spirit of invention, major or minor, for too many of us it lies dormant even though it can be awakened with the simplest of acts."

- The New York Times

How will I live creatively from September 2023 to September 2024?

Slowly. Gradually. I actually asked Chat GPT to outline a year of living creatively and while the headings it suggested have helped me write this blog all by myself – it is way too structured! Like the Cambridge dictionary said, “too many rules might deaden creativity.”

Some of the creative pursuits that appeal to me are:

  • Learning to play the bass or the ukulele
  • Learning to play cricket
  • Paint pouring
  • Inktober
  • Learning to dance
  • Writing poetry
  • Writing short stories
  • Illustrating stories
  • Joining art classes online
  • Doing a creative writing course
  • Listening to music every day
  • Looking after our garden
  • Baking bread again
  • Having a drawing/painting date with myself regularly
  • Learning to enjoy cooking
  • Practicing sewing and clothing alterations (maybe make something using a pattern!)
  • Filming and editing

So that’s the kind of things I want to get into. And I want some of them to become habitual practices that help me stay grounded (and sane!)

“Don’t wait for things to be perfect before you share them with others. Show early and show often. It’ll be pretty when we get there, but it won’t be pretty along the way.”

― Ed Catmull, Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

What about you?

If somebody is reading this and has made it this far, please tell me what you think! Do you believe we’re all creative? Are there creative practices that are habitual for you? How do they help you? Is there a creative pursuit you want to incorporate into your daily life? Please consider commenting below if you have any opinions on this topic – I’d love to hear it!

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