One of the biggest challenges I have with blogging is the constant feeling of needing to share all the things. As a creative person I have always wants to make all the things but since I’ve started blogging (man oh man it’s been years!) I get so hung up sometimes on feeling like all the things I make need to be properly photographed, made in nice lighting so I can draft a tutorial, documened step by step, meticulously written about so other people can make the things I make too. I love to share. I love helping people make beautiful things, learn new skills, and find hobbies they love and didn’t know they could do before. Sometimes all those things can feel overwhelming and suck the joy right out of making things in the first lace.
It’s far too east to let the things I make that I don’t have time or energy to share feel worthless. If I don’t share the thing I just made that took me forever, was it a waste of time? If I gift the thing I made before I can photograph it, am I missing a great opportunity? Did I waste money? What was the point?
But then I force myself to take a step back and look at my girls. They watch me making stuff all the time. They see me constantly creating and they want to create too. They want to share their creativity with the world. They want to try new things and experiment. I hope they see their Mom enjoying her passions. Loving what she’s choosing to spend time on. I hope they see the value in committing to a project and learning new skills to turn those projects and ideas into realities.
“Making stuff” helps me survive in motherhood. I feel accomplished when I learn something new or figure out how to make something on my massive list of inspiration. So many people ask how I find the time to create the things I share, but honestly, the creating and making itself- that’s what gives me the space in life to find time to do the other things I really don’t enjoy; laundry, cleaning, operating the shuttle service, getting kids up at the crack of dawn, constant flow of dishes, managing a million schedules. If I didn’t spend time every single day making something, creating, I think I would drown under the weight of being a Mom and a Wife and Responsible Adult.
For now I am choosing to try harder to enjoy creating simply to create. To cherish how much my girls adore the things I make just for them, and the fact that I’m constsntly honing my skills to be better for the sake of being better. Not for the clicks on Pinterest, the shares on Facebook, the comments on Instagram. It’s a hard thing to seek validation from yourself but hard things are often the most worthwhile.
Happy Thursday to all my creatives!
Xoxo
-Jacquie
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