Remember when you were a kid and you used to do stuff simply because it felt good? Like make play dough cats, dance around in costumes and paint flowers that your mom would put on the fridge. There was nothing to limit your creativity so you just did whatever you wanted!
Unfortunately this beautiful, boundless impulse gets more and more suppressed as we get older. The idea to just do something for the sake of fun doesn’t happen nearly as often as we get busier and busier with life. Adding one more thing to the to-do list seems more like a chore than an enjoyable pursuit.
Lately, as I’ve been doing a lot of self discovery I have decided to make creative expression a priority. Even though Make It is approaching like a bullet train and I have a ton of work to do, I signed up for an art class at Emily Carr as well as a dance class. At first I thought it would be really stressful to try to fit these new activities into my schedule, but the opposite has happened. I feel like having these fun and creative classes to look forward each week has allowed me to be calmer and more relaxed. I think I am becoming more productive as a result of them too. Being able to do something that I loved as a kid gives me this sense of giddiness and joy!
At first I was uneasy about enrolling in art class because I hate doing things I suck at. What I have learned, is that even though the art I’ve made so far is pretty terrible, it’s been so pleasurable to create. Plus, each week I’m becoming more skilled at my brush strokes and colour blending. It feels really good to be making progress and something I never made time for in the past.
I’ve always loved to dance and took many jazz, tap, ballet and modern classes throughout my life, but for the past 10 years I’ve hardly danced at all. When I walked into my first dance class a few weeks ago, I was nervous as hell. Sure I’ve danced the night away at recent weddings and parties, but there is something different when you go into a class where everyone is following the same choreography and moving to the count of 8. It can be very intimidating if you don’t know what the heck you are doing.
It only took a couple classes of being terribly off count, feeling out of shape and tripping over my own feet that I finally got the hang of it again. Now I can’t wait to go to dance class just because it feels amazing to move to music and nail a routine! I’m still not as good as I used to be, but it’s all about the joy of expression just for the sake of it.
I know there must have been something you loved doing as a kid. Signing up for a class even though you don’t think you have time for it will connect you to a part of yourself that you might have forgotten about. It’s ok if you’re scared because you think you’ll suck…at first you most likely will! No one cares and you will get better over time.
If you have a comment, I would SO appreciate if you shared it below. Let me know what passion you are planning on rekindling.
Sparkly Halloween love,
Jenna
Psst! There is still time to enrol in Cha Chingle Bells if you want to kick it up a notch (or 5!) this holiday season. I will teach you exactly how to maximize craft shows and make more money than you ever thought possible. It’s much easier than you think, plus you can do the whole program while you make stuff…no time wasted!
Psssst! Make It Productions is nominated for the Small Business BC Awards. Please take 2 seconds and click here to vote for us. Pretty pretty please 🙂
