How to Create From a Place of Joy

As artists, we create for many different reasons. We may feel called to create, maybe we naturally fell into it because of our environment or due to the need to provide financially. Someone or something inspired a creative spark that we chose to follow. In this post, I will explore why creating from a place of joy is important and how to make this happen in your creative practice.

Why does this matter?

Creating from a place of joy matters because you have to have purpose behind what you do or it’s meaning is hollow. If you do not have purpose, then your creative spark will dim and you will easily give up.

Joy is contagious and in turn others will experience joy through your creation. Isn’t that just the best? Creating something that will bring another a feeling, experience or desire beyond what we could have imagined?

When joy takes the lead, you will be at your creative best and in the place you were created to be.

With my first pattern collection, I was struggling with the idea of what was important to create for the fabric industry as well as what I liked. I ended up with a collection that I loved. But my real love has always been for making clothing and I didn’t see that all of my patterns could translate into clothing seamlessly. I could see a mix of home décor, children’s clothing and some ready to wear pieces. In reality, there is nothing wrong with creating with a job or a company in mind but only part of our creative spark is in play.

When I wasn’t creating patterns or painting, I found myself going back to sewing clothing, trying to find fabrics that I loved and would wear. My a-ha moment came when I truly stepped into the belief, “create what you want to see in the world”.

Going into my fourth pattern collection, three years later, my focus for creating this collection is what would translate into fabric for clothing. Specifically clothing that I want to see in the world; garments that I want to wear.

How to Create From a Place of Joy

Make a list of what you love

Do a brain dump and write out anything that comes to mind when you think of what you love and love to do. Don’t worry if it doesn’t pertain to creating anything at this point. And don’t censor what you are writing, just put down what comes to mind automatically.

This is what my list looked like from a few months ago.

flowers
birds
sewing clothes
family
makeup
home decor
peonies
making designs
fabric
writing encouraging notes

What are you good at?

Beside the first list, write a second list. Think of everything you are good at and write those things out. These may be tasks, jobs or hobbies that you do or that others have said that you are good at or would be good at. You will start to see the intersection of ideas between what you love and what you are good at.

sewing
listening
being curious
style
having an eye for beauty
growing and expanding my skills

Draw lines between two from each list that intersect and show up in your creative practice. If they don’t show up in your practice, maybe it is time they do. For me, the ideas from what I love have become themes in the patterns I am starting to create.

What do you keep coming back to?

When you don’t create from a place of joy, you will yearn to create what fills your soul. You may not even notice it at first. This resignation may show up as boredom, frustration, creative blocks or abandonment of your practice.

Think of all of the projects that led you back to what you love the most. What have you long ignored because it may not “fit” into the industry’s idea of what should be done? For me, I gave up the idea of creating fabric for clothing as I was told it was difficult to get a licensing deal and that I would have to give up my copyright to my designs. This time around, I am doing more research and not letting the industry dictate what works for me.

Your work will show your joy; the way you talk about it, the way you display and market it. If you are not fully committed to your creations, that will come through as well.

Take Action

It is important to dedicate time to your creative joy. In these posts, How to Set Weekly Goals and How to Set Artistic Goals are tools to help you get started with the time commitment you are willing and able to give to your practice.

As soon as you decide what, how, when and where you will step into this practice, there will be instant negative messages. These will mostly be from yourself; thoughts that have been formed from experiences, past wins and failures as well as messages from others. So, it is equally important to silence the lies or negative thoughts that will appear when you step into your joy.

I have the perfect resource for you to begin the work to silence your inner critic in this free download, “Become a Confident Artist: Overcome Fear & Create Your Best Work”.