SPRING Into Creativity
Your Daily Creative Practice:
T
oday
is
Mon-
day and my fam-
ily is bouncing
into the week rested, happy,
and healthy despite all of our
weekday schedules being full
to the brim, and not to mention
that it’s flu season. I attribute
the success of our weekend to
down time and lots of it. I spent
time here and there arranging
flowers, working on my col-
lage journal, and decorating.
My husband wrote his Morning
Pages, strummed his guitar, and
read an entertaining book. Our daugh-
ter sang her way through the weekend,
when she wasn’t drawing, arranging
her clothes and makeup, or decorating
her room.
When we weren’t resting, we were
productive. In fact, I cannot believe how
many household chores got done with-
out fuss or muss. The fact is, when you
take time to rest and relax, you automati-
cally become more happily productive.
Ask most Americans if they would like
to be more creative and they will say,
“Yes, absolutely.”
Then ask them if they would like
to spend time being creative every day
and they will tell you they don’t have the
time to spare for such things. And right
there is the crux of our national creative
conundrum.
The media tells us repeatedly that
the future of our country — and possibly
even the future of our world — relies on
our ability to take a creative approach to
life and all of the challenges that come
with it. But most of us can’t — or won’t
— even set aside 30 minutes a day for
doing something that relieves our stress
and brings a smile to our faces today.
Decades ago, President John Ken-
nedy asked Americans, “Ask not what
your country can do for you, ask what
you can do for your country.” But ask
most Americans what they can do for our
8 WNY Family March 2019
you can address in a straight-
forward manner within the next
24 hours. All you have to do is
set aside thirty minutes today
and spend it doing something
creative that you enjoy. This
should be easy, right?
A Tool For Thriving
Parents & Families
— by Christina Katz
country and their answers will be rote
because so many adults get trapped in a
vicious cycle of just making it through
the day, week, and year instead of feel-
ing like each of us is here for a reason.
When I am presenting workshops to
creative types, I like to remind everyone
in the room that their physical body is
merely a door. And on the other side of
that door is an enormous stream of po-
tential that is ready to pour out, if they
would only find the courage to open the
door. I applaud anyone pursuing any part
of any dream they have, because we live
in a world with so much cynicism, where
so much human potential is never even
attempted. Don’t believe me? Just check
out the comments section after any posts
on an online news outlet for a sample of
the excuses that people have for staying
stuck and miserable.
Being proactive about our potential
is not as popular as it should be. No mat-
ter how many best-selling authors tell us
that actualizing our potential is our most
important job as individuals, resistance
to what we long for is a serious prob-
lem for Americans, and an even trickier
task for busy parents. Luckily it is one
But why should you bother
to make time for yourself when
you have so many other, mostly
more challenging, things on
your to-do lists? I’ve rounded
up ten reasons every member
of your family needs to have a
daily creative practice in addition to the
fact that that your inspired participation
is required to sustain our planet and all
the folks who inhabit it, including your
children and their future children.
So don’t just sit there and take
a break because you are so exhausted
from the frenetic pace of daily life. Do
something creative right now and every
day going forward. Watch your worries
slip away, and your creativity kick in,
and your family sit up and take notice.
Your family can thrive more than you
ever thought possible, but it all starts and
ends with you, and the choices you make
every single day.
10 Reasons To Start A Daily
Creative Practice Today
1) To find deeper meaning in the life you
are already living.
2) To stop living in the past or the future
and to start living in the moment.
3) To give yourself thirty minutes of per-
sonal satisfaction every day because you
deserve it.
4) To set a good example for your spouse
and children to be more expressive and
engaged.
5) To remind yourself of the importance
of expressing yourself because you have
so much to offer.
6) To stay current with your feelings and
needs because no one is keeping track of
them for you.