Time to Create

How do you find time to create? It's a question that I'm asked a lot now that we have three children. And it's a question that I've spent my life asking other Mamas. I just realized recently- mostly while mulling over this post in my head- that the whole time I was asking that question, what I was really asking was not how they find time to create, but "how do you find time to get everything else done, and then create?" Because I've struggled with that feeling, especially since staying at home with kids, that everything else had to be done- the kitchen put away, all the clothes clean, etc.- before I could give myself permission to sit down and create. And the reality is that time never happens. If I wait to get everything else done first then the likelihood of me ever sitting down and creating anything is nonexistent. Life is never going to slow down or move over, so that I have more time to create. That is not how my life works, especially during this season of littles. So when you see projects that I'm creating in this space, I understand that it's easy to think that everything else is done before I'm sitting down to create- but that's not the case at all.

For example, feeling at the end of my rope this week, I realized it had been a couple of weeks since I had gotten a break from our lovely children. And that it would do all of us good, especially me, if Cory was to take them out for an hour so I could catch my breath. Which he graciously agreed to. Now right before they left, Isia, Billy & I had been sorting clothes. And I really had to fight the urge, after they left, to not continue sorting-  knowing that we were getting closer and that the end was in sight. Knowing how nice it would feel to have all the laundry done. But also realizing that, if I spent the whole time sorting laundry, I wasn't going to be any more refreshed when they got back home. While it would be a good use of my time for the house, it would not be a good use of my creative time. So I fought that urge down, walked away from it, then took pictures (of what I was walking away from) so I could share that truth with you.

I stepped away, got out my fabrics, and worked on my Dad's quilt which has been lingering in the back of my mind these days. And when everyone arrived back, I felt like I had a lot more rope once again. Which is a good feeling! So please know, when you see projects here, you're not seeing them because everything else got done. They're being created in spite of the household to-do's. Because when I look back on my life, I know these projects are what I'll remember most of my stolen time- not the folded and put away laundry, or the immaculate floors. And they're what I want to share with our kids. While I try to keep up with the house, I want them to remember my creativity best. Because it's not only a large part of who I am, it's a large part of what I want to pass onto them. So I try to make sure my time reflects this, and reveals the truth of who I am- for them, and for myself too.