I want to tell you a short story about a woman I talked to (let’s call her Sarah, for anonymity’s sake). Sarah is a woman in her 40’s and has a life a lot of women, and especially us Moms, can relate to.

When I talked to Sarah, we found that she has a lot to be happy about (and she is). A lot of things are just as she wants them to be. She loves where she lives and the people around her. She loves her home and she has a job she enjoys doing. But the conditions she was working under wasn’t giving her the head space to be creative.

All her productivity went into the papers and articles she had to write for work and the meetings. This, and other demands on her energy and time had turned her life into a routine.

She really wants to get back to enjoying her creative hobbies. Most of why she wasn’t doing it was that she thought she didn’t have the time. She usually starts creating again when she has a longer period off work, like during summer, but stops again once she gets back to work.

During the rest of the year, she’s mostly trying to catch up on everything that needs doing. Finding time for anything creative is a struggle.

When I asked her how it felt to write, just for the sake of writing, she said that “It’s always fun to make up worlds” and “creating is fun”. She’s so right about that. Expressing your creative side, in whatever way you like, makes a huge difference for your happiness.

When I showed her it was possible to write a poem in one minute, by making her do it right there and then, it started her thinking of ways she can be creative in her everyday life. She now wants to get some writing done before work and do some art in the evening, before bed.

She said, “I might even write a book this way”.

When we said our goodbyes, she had decided to pick up her writing, by writing something (non-work-related) every day, and bring her art supplies on the trip she was taking to her parents in another country.

I hope this story got you thinking about how you can reclaim your creative expression. If you need some help (or a kick in the pants) to get going, have a cup of tea with me.