the idea: at least once a week, every week, dedicate one hour of your time to creative activity

This was written by my dear friend, Emily Schoenberg, who is an incredibly kind and creative person.  Take her words to heart!

 

Creative Hour with my Love – 1/28/13

As a full time employee in a very administrative department, I find very little time for creativity in my day to day. Having graduated with a major in Visual Arts two years ago at a school that nurtured my need to be submerged in colorful paints, bright glitters and all the tools that could assist my imagination, it was a slow and difficult adjustment to make. I found out that the days were no longer mine to conquer and explore, that my time belonged to “the Man” and that when I was set free at the end of the day, all energy—physical and creative—was sapped.

If you are a fellow free spirit and an artistic soul, newly thrown into the cold world beyond the hearth of Education, you likewise discover the following things: The world owes you nothing, you must begin making money to survive, and in this tight economy you will take any opportunity given no matter its relation to your line of study. This does not, however, kill your need nor your desire to make art. And when I say “need” I do not say it lightly. Many of you will know what I’m talking about when I say that as an artist you create not because you simply “want” to, but because it is necessary to your being. It is an impulse, a force within you as real as hunger that makes you follow those glimmering ideas of yours and manifest them in whatever way your art takes form.

After months of settling in, I finally found a way to bring a bit of that spark back into my life- My boyfriend and I started having a “Creative Hour.” At least once a week, every week, my boyfriend (who lives in El Paso at the moment) connects with me in Boston via Skype and we dedicate one hour of our time to creative activity. He writes or sketches story boards, I bake or paint or write a new song. It doesn’t matter what it is you’re doing as long as it’s CREATIVE. Having a partner in crime for this is crucial for me because we hold each other to this precious, shared hour that leaves us feeling fulfilled, productive, and alive. It’s also a nice thing to do with the one you love. It fuels my art and it fuels my creative thinking and it fuels my and our happiness. I would recommend this to anyone, really whether you have someone to share it with or not- you owe it to yourself my love. Give yourself just one measly hour. No more “But I’m much too busy.” Move some things aside, give your art some space to breathe, and you might be surprised what color pops back into your life.