Creative Wellness Letters - where's your creative joy? 🌟

Hi Reader, 

I’ve been slowly working on updating my website (combining my 2 websites back into one, actually) over the last few months, and with that comes many decisions about how to present myself - language, branding, colors, fonts, etc.

It’s not just about appearances, though.

There needs to be a strong foundation of self-knowledge underneath, so I’ve been digging into who I am now and why I do what I do, because if I don’t understand it, I definitely can’t explain it to others!

I recently hired Karla Colahan of The Inspired Foundry, who I also know from the music scene in Minneapolis and her excellent duo The OK Factor, to create a “Tiny Brand” for me, because I knew I’d need help in the decision-making process.

Just for fun, here’s a sneak peek of a mood board she made for me, so exciting:

When we talked at the beginning of the design process, Karla asked me many big-picture sorts of questions, including “what kind of world do you want to create with your work?”

Since I’d been struggling to concisely articulate this, I was surprised at how fast my answer came out: 

“a world where everyone can find joy in their creative practice.” 

It wasn’t just that the answer came right out, but that it felt solid, like a well-poured foundation for my house.

I also realized that the word “joy” was already in my musician bio (“her biggest passion is bringing joy to others through Brazilian music”), so it’s already a main theme!

Then began the flood of questions (thanks, cautious brain, but I have answers, too):

• Can I, someone who regularly experiences anxiety and depression, truly say that joy is at the center of my work if I’m not feeling it regularly?

Yes, cultivating more joy in our lives is a practice - more on that in a minute.

• Is joy (and pleasure) enough of a worthy goal? (Thanks a lot, but please pipe down, Catholic upbringing.)

Experiencing joy, like all emotions, is a transitory, impermanent state, and truly experiencing our emotions as they happen is how to truly be present in our impermanent lives.

• Or is pursuing joy more of a silly, fluffy “rainbows and unicorns” sentiment, not serious enough for the significance of the work I want to bring to the world?

Joy is usually tied to the things that really make life worth living, like connecting with loved ones, appreciating beauty, creating something in the moment (being present, again!)

We deserve to experience creative joy for our own fulfillment, AND we get to share it with others. 

Joy radiates outward and is contagious - it can change the world.

In case you’re thinking, “ummm, that sounds great, but I don’t remember the last time I experienced joy in creativity,” I see you!

I’ve really been struggling with this since getting COVID almost a month ago, and having my energy and mental clarity returning so slooooowly.

Feeling like joy is missing is a great realization, and now you can start looking for it and planting seeds to cultivate more of it.

I was very inspired by the idea of hope as an active practice when I recently read Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility edited by Thelma Young Lutunatabua and Rebecca Solnit. (Highly recommend if you have a lot of climate anxiety, like me.)

Joy is an active practice, too. 

We have to seek it out, and let it know that it’s a welcomed friend, so it continues to return to us.

During busy seasons when I realize that it’s been a long while since I played the piano for fun and not out of obligation, my go-to joy-maker is always jamming out a samba groove, sometimes just making up a chord progression, or playing a favorite tune like Ao Mestre by Alessandro Penezzi.

If you’re not sure where to find your creative joy, you probably know more than you think. You can ask yourself:

• Where do I often find joy in my life?
• What would feel good right now?
• What makes my inner child happy?
• What’s one of the best experiences I’ve had while making or sharing art? How can I reproduce some of that feeling?

Think of your favorite artists, the ones that really mean something to you - what if they hadn’t followed their creative joy and decided to share it? (Yes, there are more creative impulses than just joy, but let’s keep following this thread.)

We owe it to ourselves, and others, to follow that joy!

I suspect that my thoughts on this will deepen as I continue to ponder and journal about it, and I’m sure my creative joy (and yours) will continue to evolve as we grow. 

Here’s to growing in the directions we choose! 🥂

Where do you find creative joy? I'd love to hear about it!

I'm always rooting for you, and my inbox is always open, so please feel free to reach out if I can help in any way - I love hearing from you!

Have a lovely week! ⁠

Rebecca

• Stop Multitasking. No, Really - Just Stop It (NYTimes gift link) - Yeah, I never want to hear that, either, but this is a good read, as is the author Oliver Burkeman's book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals!

• Obsessing over your productivity? Try percolating instead. - As creative folks, we have to percolate, it's part of our process!

• A great joy example: the Elaine Dance Contest at the 2023 Brooklyn Cyclones Seinfeld Night. 😂

• Ep. 72: Coda: Reflections, Endings, and Beginnings

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