Falling Out of Creative Sync

Do you have those times when it feels like everywhere you look, the world is blooming? Ideas come to you easily, inspiration is found around every turn, and your creative future looks bright.

Then, it happens.

Maybe it's because of a few bad nights of sleep, sickness (your own or a family member's), stress at work ... or maybe none of these things. But something changes and you start to lose that artistic glow.

Recently, I've been on cloud nine creatively. After months of burnout, I embraced the inspiration that poured out of the universe and covered me. Dreaming up ideas for new upcycled clothes designs, playing with beading, and generally receiving inspiration everywhere I turned refreshed my soul and renewed my hope that my creativity wasn't dead, after all.

Then we went on vacation. This was a big deal because: a) we'd been saving for months for this one, special trip to Long Beach, California and b) it was the first time we've traveled together as a family on a plane and c) it was the first paid, week-long vacation I've had in many years.

To say that my hopes were high would be an understatement. The trip was wonderful. I drank in the scenery, the colors, the sounds, the smells, the tastes that were all so different from home. I thrive with new-ness and there was plenty of that everyday!

It was also depleting because, as an introvert, I had extremely limited amounts of time to myself and I wasn't able to bring any creative projects with me. (I did do a little sketching, as it's easily portable.)

This week, I've been struggling. Not only because of the jet lag and recovering from the red-eye flight we took home Sunday night, but because I seem to have lost my creative mojo.

I finished one beading project--a vintage collar I've been working on for weeks--and feel at loose ends. I tried a new beading technique (on tulle) with very bad results. I have about a zillion and one ideas/projects for upcycled clothes but can't seem to get myself motivated to start even one.

Sometimes it feels like my dream of joining the ranks of creative women who have successful little side businesses is impossibly far away. Sometimes that voice saying, "who do you think you are?" is very loud. And sometimes it feels easier to tackle projects at home--sweeping the floor, tidying, washing dishes--than delve into a new project. At least housework shows immediate results.

But it doesn't feed my soul ...

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My Big-Time Dream ... And How I'm Saving for It

Do you have a big-time dream? Maybe the one on your bucket list that really stand out. It might be traveling in Kenya, hiking the Grand Canyon, swimming with sharks--oops, I mean dolphins--or something else that you know in your bones will satisfy.

I have a lot of items on my Dream List (I don't like the term Bucket List but the two are basically the same thing).

Near the very top are two that I have been wanting to do for YEARS. Really. A long, long time.

1. Travel in Europe.
2. Travel in the U.S., in a vintage camper.

Maybe, like me, you find yourself often saying, "Oh, that will be so wonderful ... someday."

"Someday" is like a daydream. And what's likely to happen is that "someday" I'm going to realize that I should have been actively working toward my dream, instead of just wishing it would happen on its own. 

So, even though dreaming of travel feels a little silly right now, with very little extra income of my own to set aside and a young child at home, I've started a savings fund. 

Sure, it may take me a decade to get enough money saved to buy one of these: 

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... but at least as I look at my Dream List I will know that I'm trying to get myself on the road and into the Sisterhood (Sisters on the Fly, for those of you who don't know, is the largest outdoor adventure group for women in the U.S. It also has a TON of cute vintage campers to drool over on its website). 

I've decided that any future sales I make--either through my Etsy shop or selling vintage or handmade goods in a local shop, on Craigslist, Ebay, to friends, whatever--will be put toward my someday camper. 

I don't care if the little gem is simply parked in my backyard. As Virginia Woolf wrote, every woman needs a room of one's own. And let me tell you, when your "studio" is a corner of a dark, cobwebby basement near the cat boxes? That room starts to look pretty darn enticing.    :) 

Do you like vintage campers and/or traveling? Please share about it in the comments.