Five Tips For Creating Your Ideal Creative Space
In a bustling coffee shop, in your car while you wait for a child, in an office, a library, or on your bed, where you create matters.
We all have fantasies of the perfect hideaway, stocked full of our favorite supplies (both of the snack variety as well as the endless books and pens we ‘need’), but for most that is not a daily reality. If the muse has chosen this free moment to grace us with her presence, then we had better find a place to take her that she won’t run screaming from and never return!
1. Pick a spot!
It doesn’t have to big a whole room, or even as much as a table all of your own, though if you have space for that then take it immediately. A designated shelf on a bookcase, a window ledge beside your favourite chair, and if space really is a problem, get a bag and fill it with your most essential items ready to move with you to wherever you can find when the mood and the moment coincide.
2. Keep the clutter to a minimum!
Don’t allow your space to become a dumping ground for things that you’ll get round to later, or as a space to store books or other materials. Take that stuff somewhere else, this is an active space you won’t need to do anything to when you finally get a minute, just sit and create.
3. What do your senses need?
Do you like peace and quiet, or will you need music to push back distractions in the room around you? Do you like visual stimulus in the form of a pinboard (or Pinterest if you don’t have a wall) to help inspire you? Remember, the creative process doesn’t belong solely to your mind, what other things help you to work and get in the ‘zone’?
4. Get comfortable!
A cushion for your behind, back support, a cosy jumper or an open window nearby. The last thing you need is physical discomfort distracting you so sort it out first!
5. Find your ritual!
Even with the perfect space set up and ideas a plenty, making the separation between your regular life and your creative zone can be difficult, especially when you are still surrounded by the debris of that world. If you don’t have a door to close behind you can you create a practice you can do each time to allow a shift in energy and a refocus on yourself? A short breathing practice with eyes closed, the ritual of making your favourite drink, a quick dance to your favourite song, or a gentle stretching routine. Whatever works best for do in a short amount of time to shake off the pull of the outside world.
Finally yes, I’m going to say it… creating space for our creativity is not just about physical space. All the intentions in the world won’t come into tangible reality without you getting comfortable with the fact that your need to create is as important as another need you have, maybe more so. Oftentimes, allowing ourselves to express our feelings, thoughts, and desires through the things we make is the most direct way to release pent-up emotion and come back to center. It’s a small gift for ourselves and an even greater one to the people around us, for whom we do so much.
So from my special corner in my front room while the rest of the house sleeps, or my mobile office in my car, what does your creative space look and feel like? Do you have what you need?