Creative parenting

Duncan Meadows
Jul 25, 2017 · 2 min read

As full-time dad and musician, when my daughter was born I had a decision to make. Did I carry on writing music? Would I even have the time for creativity? For me the answer was obvious. And it could be for you too. Firstly, music had been a part of my life for all of my living memory. And being creative was fundamental to who I was. So I couldn’t just stop. But how could I continue to make music with such limited opportunity to do so?

Performing after becoming a full time parent

What I discovered can help not only parents who work in creative fields but anyone who wants to maximise their creative potential.

But first, what was my creative life like before the birth of my daughter? At the time it felt like an limitless oasis in which I could experiment, play and create without the pressure of producing anything concrete. I could always go back and work on that sound or that composition again. I had loads of time. But perhaps the very thing that was allowing me all that time — that feeling of forever — was actually holding me back, stifling my creativity. Did I actually need more pressure, more limitations? But those were hypothetical, idle questions. Sure I could answer them, but did I really need to? Then one day I had to.

Our daughter was born part way through 2016. I hadn’t thought much about what the impact would be of becoming a full time parent. Of course, I’d thought about the restrictions it would place on my social life, my enjoyment of US hops. But I’d not considered how it would affect my creative life.

During the first weeks of her life, as we grappled with the challenges and joys of adjusting to being a family, I also began to grasp the enormity of what being a full time parent would entail. And when my partner returned to work it hit me. Who am I now?

I was still a musician. Of course. It was obvious. But how could I be a musician?

In answering that question I had to think about every aspect of what being creative meant. And in my future stories I will discuss what I discovered and how it improved my creativity.

Written by

Full time parent and musician writing about maximising creativity when there’s minimum time

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