But if you're anything like me, it's all too easy to lose your way, especially if your creativity is also how you earn a living. Life gets busy. Stress levels rise and inspiration becomes ever harder to come by. Sometimes it's really easy to forget why you even wanted to be creative in the first place.
Although it took me years to really get the memo, it's essential to pause, recalibrate, and check in with yourself once in a while. Not from a critical angle but from one of genuine curiosity and self-compassion.
Admittedly, I'm guilty of not doing this anywhere near as often as I know I should, but I'm working on it. Asking myself some simple questions once or twice a year and exploring those answers in whatever way makes sense at the time has helped. So, if you're someone who ever creates something out of nothing and calls it art, these eight questions are for you.
1. What do I create when no one is watching?
I don't know about you, but I create very differently when I'm doing it for personal expression and sheer joy than I do when I'm hoping to "get somewhere" with whatever it is I'm making. And it's only natural to care what other people think about what you make, even essential if you count on creative earnings as part of your living.
But asking myself this question now and then brings me back to the truest version of my creative self, the version that doesn't really care if something I want to create makes me money or earns me new clients. I'm constantly reminding myself to make enough room for creativity that honors that version of me. If I don't, burnout can become a problem.
