I grow increasingly excited about this year – if I had to pick a word to describe what I'm concentrating on, it would be "creating". Sure that's my line of work anyway but the word is taking on all kinds of meaning in 2012. Not only will I be making ideas happen in the workspace but I also want to spend more time injecting more creativity in my life in general.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about making room for a more creative life over on Technorati. As a creative who has not been living as creatively as I'd like, I shared ideas for how to inject more creativity in your days (whether you are a creative professional or not).
Today I'm sharing 30 (mostly) specific things I'll be doing this year. I choose the number because this year I will be happily turning the big 3-0!
1. Getting more sleep. This is the answer to making everything else possible!
2. Ruthlessly de-cluttering my space ("Without space, creation cannot take place" – Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati).
3. Taking myself on dates to cafés to write.
4. Writing in my journal regularly.
5. Paying more attention to my plants.
6. Making more of my own products (So far, I make a version of Sheena LaShay's body butter (video), Kimmaytube's leave-in hair conditioner and plant food from instructions in Design*Sponge at Home.
7. Contributing more articles and posts to Live Unchained and Technorati.
8. Taking myself on solo movie dates (I really enjoy these!).
9. Spending more time outdoors and in nature (despite the weather which, in the part of the world where I live, is often not conducive).
10. Scheduling in time to work on my personal creative projects and treating that time as sacred.
11. Making things just because (no expectations and nobody to please but myself).
12. Customising my space more (Because I rent, I often feel restricted as to how much I can do but I think that often the limits are more in my mind anyway. My brother had great advice: it's worth doing what you need to do to make your space your own, enjoying your time there and dealing with the consequences that will come, rather than living your life on hold until that "one day" that may actually be a while coming).
13. Making wax print curtains for my office shelves (hides the messy busy shelves and adds vibrance to the room).
14. Getting my sewing machine out of storage (i.e. under the desk) so there a fewer barriers to using it (out of sight = out of …).
15. Delegating more (whether at work or otherwise. The Success Principles author Jack Canfield makes a very good point about this. If you think of your time in terms of money, which is something that I do being that I charge most clients against a day rate, it makes sense to farm out tasks that are beyond your core competencies. Rather than spending a lot of time on them, that you could instead spend doing what you do best. For example, if your time costs $1,000/day and it will take you 2 hours to clean your house (i.e. $250, assuming that a day of work is equivalent to 8 hours), paying somebody else $50 to do it is a no-brainer.).
16. Recapturing the excitement of dressing up that I had when I was younger. Putting together more interesting (and fun) outfits as a result.
17. Making an effort (working at home has made me super low maintenance. It's all about tracksuits and headscarves :). This year I'm using any excuse to make an effort).
18. Attending more events (I used to go to at least 2 events every week but a combination of work, weather and the comfort of home has made me very hermit-like. Yet, there's so much inspiration and excitement to be had outside my door and so many great people to meet and spend time with IRL).
19. Reading more fiction. Despite this fairly ambitious list, I found myself sidetracking last year and instead reading a whole bunch of factual books. Which were great! However, I do miss reading for reading's sake.Getting lost in a good story and being transported to another world.
20. Painting some more portraits.
21. Making collages (one of my absolute most favourite things to do).
22. Cooking for the love of cooking. I have to admit that lately, I've been cooking for the sake of surviving. I.e. I know I have to eat and so I cook. This despite the fact that I actually love to cook and find it very cathartic.
23. Insisting on good food. Yup – I love food. If I'm eating out, it better be good. I'm looking for experience rather than convenience.
24. Being the group organiser. This has been my role in several periods throughout my life. Primary school, high school, university and beyond. I am that person who would come up with ideas for group activities and the person people would call when they wanted to know what was going on. It can be a frustrating job when you get attached to the outcomes or place high expectations on non-committal people. So I retired. However, I'm going to try it again, with the wisdom of past experience and no expectations. The hope is that I have enough friends willing to get up off their butts. Wish me luck.
25. Doing what feels good.
26. Limiting the time I spend internetting (it's going to be hard!).
27. Acting on all my self-talk about the outfits I'm going to commission a tailor to make (perhaps even trying to make some things … gasp … myself?!).
28. Drawing upon all the resourcefulness that was instilled in me while growing up and as part of my formal education; making more of my own stuff. Repurposing and upcycling, here I come!
29. Listening to music more. I grew up in a household filled with music, my Dad having a wide eclectic collection that he'd play from daily. These days, I find myself rarely actively listening to music. It's a real travesty and when I do make an effort, it's wonderful. More wonder required.
30. Take some art/craft classes for fun (with the bonus of learning some new techniques).
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Stay tuned as I'll be sharing experiments and outcomes.
What are you doing to live more creatively this year?
(Image of preparation I was doing for some collages.)