I believe every one of us is an artist, even if we’re not a professional painter or creating every day (or week).

Art and creativity is critical to our humanity, yet it’s something stifled early and thoroughly in childhood:

Draw a flower this way, not like that.

Color inside the lines.

Don’t waste paper/glue/markers.

Quit making so much noise.

Those clothes don’t match.

Why can’t you sit still?

So many of us have been conditioned to repress and ignore our creativity to the point that we think we’re NOT creative at all—

—which is a real shame, I think.

Maybe your art is expressed in the way you move - or your eye for detail - or your knack for thinking up sharp comments and creative puns.

…but the laundry just keeps coming, the kids need another snack.

You can’t sit down to create when the dishes aren’t done, can you? (personally i think you should - because they’re endless)

… and really, there’s no place to set up a proper workstation anyway.

The cats might unravel your yarn, or knock over your beads.

Maybe you love decorating your home, but can’t justify the cost or trouble of changing the art on your walls … even tho what’s hanging there currently doesn’t really spark joy.

Maybe you feel like it’s too much effort to do something creative, amidst the time-confetti that’s so often what we get, as women, as mothers…

Maybe your art is in your fashion sense - but it’s really more practical to live the leggings lifestyle…

Maybe your art is found in your makeup, the mug you choose for your morning beverage, the way you arrange the meal on your plate, the way you notice butterflies, or the morning dew—

All of that counts as art. LIFE is art - it’s creative expression and connection.

I recommend that you start looking at your entire life as an expression of your creative impulse - and watch how your world awakens.

I’m telling you it’s worth it.

It Doesn’t Matter if nobody gets your art, or if nobody BUYS your art - because you don’t have to make a profit to make meaning.

In fact, one of the worst lies we’ve collectively swallowed is that our creativity must be monetized in order to be valueable.

Monetizing every aspect of your creative life makes it shrivel and contort under the weight of soul-draining expectations—

As if money is the only real value—

—not persistence
—not honing our craft
—not dedication and grit
—not incremental upgrade of our skillset
—not the pure bliss of creative expression?

…and this is how they convince us that we’re “not really artists”. (it’s a lie)

So, keep creating - even in small ways.

Even in ways that are ephemeral and temporary, and maybe even in ways that nobody gets the honor of seeing - but you.

Art is how we mend our broken parts, and reconnect with the sacred fire of our intuition.

Go do something creative today - and embrace your inner artist.

Posted for Lisa, who writes Popcorn and Patchouli - and definitely gets that life = art.

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