From Brushstrokes to Design Boards: Navigating Creative Life in Alexandria
Creative living is magic.
I’m fascinated with creative minds and what makes people happy. Years ago, I picked up Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert since I love learning all about the creative process. I didn’t love Eat, Love, Pray, in fact I never even finished it but, Big Magic was different. Gilbert captured the creative thinking process so eloquently and personally.
I read this book the year I started my art and interiors business in 2015, and it was exactly what I needed to help me navigate my creative career. I’ve had many ups and downs along this creative journey, but I’ve never been more sure it is the right path and I have faith it will all lead to where I envision. I share my story and this book hoping to spark your creative interests and bring you a little more joy.
Growing up I never thought of myself as artistic or creative, but I had a great imagination and loved to explore new things. Somewhere along the way I had the notion that career and creativity didn’t really go together and after becoming a mom I had less time, so I squashed out creative pursuits.
Big Magic helped me understand how important it was to keep pushing to add in more creativity even with three young daughters I had at the time. Gilbert talks about the responsibility of taking care of oneself financially while never letting go of those creative pursuits that make us feel alive, but I had abandoned creativity (except devouring all the design blogs and books I could) to focus on my government affairs career and family.
Creative living has taken courage I didn’t know I had and I’ve come face to face with a lot of my fears, but by sticking with it I keep moving the needle forward. Design and painting enhance my life in ways I’ll never be able to express through words. The community I’ve formed from this creative journey in Alexandria has brought so much joy and is something I want to always continue to cultivate. Being a designer and artist is so much more than a job; it’s a gift, and I hope you can see that through my work. I love sharing my story with others and hearing yours to learn your creative super power… I find we all have one if we allow it!
Looking back I’m so glad I didn’t let my terrible anxiety or a newborn keep me from enrolling in classes in interior design, art history, and fine art allowing me to find my second act and establish my creative life. This passage from Big Magic explains it all…
Pure creativity is magnificent expressly because it is the opposite of everything else in life that’s essential or inescapable (food, shelter, medicine, rule of law, social order, community and familial responsibility, sickness, loss, death, and taxes, etc.) Pure creativity is something better than a necessity; it’s a gift. It’s the frosting. Our creativity is a wild and unexpected bonus from the universe. It’s as if all our gods and angels gathered together and said, “It’s tough down there as a human being, we know. Here- have some delights.”
I still struggle to make it all work – like finding the right design projects to showcase the designs constantly running through my head or creating the painting I’ve been stuck on for months or even years. I’ve learned to make sure I keep some element of creativity in my days and things slowly come together. And to me that’s the frosting of it all and a reminder to keep the faith that small changes lead to even more of those delights.
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