Creativity is a muscle - figuratively and literally. It figuratively needs exercise, discipline, and habit to grow and become stronger. It literally flexes through your body as it moves throughout your work. When this creative muscle memory grows, you open up to your work effortlessly, leaving room for light and inspiration.

Stepping into your studio should wake something inside of you. You should feel energized, motivated, inspired, curious, joyful, and peaceful. You should effortlessly move throughout your creative practice without question or hesitation. Working in this manner is the definition of creating a studio — habitual — ritual and when this happens these emotions come in abundance.

Do you every create and get completely immersed the process? I’m referencing those moments that you realize you are completely in tune with yourself as the outside world becomes quiet. I refer to these as my slow studio moments and I believe that you can cultivate a practice where these moments are in abundance.

Creativity is something that can be fed, nourished, and rejuvenated. Oftentimes, through seasons where inspiration falls short, practicing creativity becomes distant. It’s hard to bring back, challenging us to abuse inspiration. But what if you could call upon creativity and inspiration when you wanted? This is discipline, and it’s often a lost skill that every creative should have.

2018 proved to challenge me in many ways. Between learning about myself and my artwork, there are a few lessons I learned that will stick with me in the years to come.

If I am being completely honest, burnout is a real thing in my life (like many others). Between pouring energy into my business, finding time for creativity, and showing up in my personal life, I sometimes feel zero energy, fearing burnout and the lack of motivation. I face guilt for not feeding my creativity, guilt for not sharing on social media, and guilt for not working during my downtime.

In a world full of creative individuals and influence pouring in from everywhere we turn, finding your creative style can present a challenge and a whole lot of questioning. It’s difficult to see your own creative style, but so easy to see others. Creative style isn’t stagnant either. It’s always growing, changing, and taking on new forms.

Creativity comes in ebbs and flows. But how do you keep it around? How do you endlessly create without fear — fear of running our of ideas, fear of judgement, fear of expectations? Through my practice I have worked to build my toolbox of ideas that help me not only find motivation creatively, but keep it on a day-to-day basis.