Creative Rebel: Lessons and Reflections
celebrating a year of weekly posts!
Guess what!? I’m celebrating today because a year ago I committed to showing up here weekly. I didn’t know exactly what would come of it, I just knew I needed a place to explore the creative journey, to express the ups and downs of it, and I suppose… to be witnessed in that space. Now, Creative Rebel is officially one year old, and with that milestone comes a celebration of devotion.
The practice of sitting down each week, even when life is full, super messy, or turbulent has become far more than just a ritual to me. It’s become a kind of mirror. A way to remind myself that I can show up with consistency. That I do have something to say. And that my creative life doesn’t require external permission or a perfectly mapped-out impact in order to be valid. Now, don’t get me wrong—I have NOT conquered those things in totality. I’m still nervous af to say some of the things I choose to share here. But it’s a way that I can gently retrain my nervous system to have the capacity for sharing honestly about the things I care about.
So if you’re looking for ways to grow your own capacity in that regard—perhaps give writing (and posting it) a shot!
The Chapter Ahead
As an undercurrent to what I’ve been posting about throughout this first year, there have been some major themes I’ve been exploring. One of which has just come to a very poignant head and that is the theme of creating impactful work. I’ve written about it in a variety of ways. Specifically with the series called “Making an Impact With Your Creative Work” (Part I, Part II, Part III) you can check them out with the links.
Though desiring your creative work to be impactful is perfectly normal, the breakthrough came recently when I saw how it can be a hindrance rather than a help to our creative expression.
If you’re like me and find yourself asking questions like:“But what will they get out of this?” or “How will this be received?” or “Will this feel legitimate to others?” before you’ve even picked up the brush, opened the design file, or begun typing—there’s a good chance you’re trying to define the impact of your art before you even make it.
Now, there’s a time and place for thoughtful questions like these, but if questioning the impact is inhibiting you from creating, stopping you from even getting started, or sending you down rabbit holes that don’t result in what you sat down to do… you’ve probably just tricked yourself into looking for answers that are none of your business to begin with.
With that said, let me pose this to you:
What would happen if we trusted that no matter what we created, wrote, developed, or designed, the act of making it was enough?
Moving into this second year of Creative Rebel, I’m choosing to follow that spark even more freely. To trust that what wants to come through me has its own reasons for arriving—even if I don’t know what they are yet.
So if you're feeling stuck, hesitant, or all tangled up in your thoughts about whether what you're making will "matter," I want to lovingly challenge you to: Make it anyway. Share it anyway. And let it fucking live.
If I’ve learned anything from dipping my toes into this approach (and sometimes running away from it like it’s a hose of cold water), the process is what will shape you.
So here’s to the next chapter of creating bravely and continuing to bet on ourselves. Thank you for being here, my friend. Let’s keep going.
P.S. If you’d like to see more of my art and peek into my creative life, come follow me on Instagram 🌹 Or check out my website!