What Happened When I Took an Unexpected Creative Break
There was a time when my days were a blank canvas. I would wake up and have the entire day ahead of me— free to plan and do as I wished. In all honesty, I look back and feel like I didn’t fully appreciate that freedom. There were too many days I squandered, aimlessly “busying” myself with menial tasks or getting lost down a social media rabbit hole.
I tried to prioritize spending time in my creative practice but with so much freedom of time I realize now I was putting it last and making a lot of excuses.
“Oh, I can just paint tonight, I have nothing going.”
“I’ll have time to paint this afternoon as soon as I finish checking emails.”
“Tomorrow is wide open, I’ll just spend the whole afternoon painting.”
And I’m sure you know how it goes . . . “this afternoon,” “tonight,” and “tomorrow” all got pushed to the next day, and then the next. Because there was always something more important to do. At least that’s what I told myself.
The Unexpected Creative Break
Then something big happened that completely changed life as I knew it. I had a baby.
And just like that, the wide-open-blank-canvas days I had were gone. Instead, they were occupied with a little human that required all of my attention. Before he arrived, I thought I might still have time to paint for fun during this time, but days, weeks, and then months flew by.
I couldn’t paint much anyway as I had lingering pain from carpal tunnel in both hands from the pregnancy and delivery.
I gave myself grace and didn’t feel guilty about not painting. So many people advised me to treasure this time with the baby because it passes so quickly. Of course, everyone was right. Three months rolled around and I didn’t even know where the time went.
A Spark of Inspiration
Somewhere around the three-month mark, I felt a spark of inspiration. It was around the time my carpal tunnel finally went away completely and it was like a switch flipped. I was scrolling around on Instagram and saw a painting in a style I’ve always wanted to try but never did.
Now, pre-baby Susan would have thought about it and probably decided not to try it because “I have too many other things to work on.” Back then I was prioritizing everything else over painting just for fun, because in a way, I could.
Three months post-baby, I finally understood the reality that time truly is our most precious commodity. And it was time to use it as wisely as I could—especially during that nap-time window, which is short. OH, SO SHORT.
Making decisions on how to spend that small window of time can feel overwhelming. There are so many things I should do, but what about what I want to do? I realized I needed to spend some of these moments doing the things that recharge my soul and bring me joy. And with that thought, I decided that the next chance I had, I would use the time to paint what I wanted.
“It’s as if taking time away from painting was exactly what I needed to recharge my creativity and learn how to make it a priority again.”
So the next time I found myself with free time, I got out my supplies and painted. I noticed I didn’t hesitate as much as I did before.
Maybe because I know if I do, it will mean I wasted that precious window of free time.
I didn’t plan to take a three-month break. In fact, I don’t think I would have ever thought to take one in the first place. But now that I look back on it, I really needed it. Just sit down and put paint on paper . . . when you can.
My first real painting session after taking a 3-month long creative break, courtesy of YouTube tutorial by Sergei Kurbatov
Looking for a way to get back to creating?
Maybe you’ve been on a break from being creative. It might be a short time (a few weeks) or a long time (since your childhood). Either way, I truly believe that creating things feeds our souls. Your medium of choice might be colored pencils or a needle and thread. Or you might enjoy trying all different sorts of creative outlets (that’s me too!)
If watercolor is something you’ve been wanting to try but aren’t sure where to start, I’ll send you a free supply guide to get you started and you’ll also receive my newsletters all about watercolors. I love helping people discover what watercolors is all about!
