The importance of pampering ourselves
I come from a home with wildly differing attitudes towards illness. My mother was a pamperer, my father (who died when I was eleven) was a dismisser. I have both their voices in my head a lot of the time when I am ill.
Trying to stay on track and not be seduced by new shiny springtime ideas
I love the spring. I love the bulbs bursting through the soil all around me (there are SO MANY daffodils in Wales this year). I love that the clocks here in the UK have sprung forward an hour and it’s finally officially British Summer Time. I love that I wake up in the morning and can sit in bed drinking my first cuppa of the day whilst listening to the birds chirruping outside, the sun peeking into my room. Spring warms my winter-chilled spirit.
Why being limited in energy doesn’t have to mean you can’t have a creative life (or even livelihood) and why I’ve written a book about it
When I fell ill back in the 1990s and was diagnosed with ME/CFS I thought my life would simply have to grind to a halt. I had so little energy I couldn’t even manage the normal day-to-day things of shopping, cooking and keeping my home together. There was nothing left for a career. Add to that the misery of feeling ill ALL the time and you can imagine I wasn’t a very happy camper.
Trusting in the magic of one thing at a time
I’ve been having a difficult few weeks. My energy has been particularly low and I’ve been increasingly feeling behind. I’ve been working on the update of my little ebook, Sustainable Creativity for three months now, and at the same time keeping my blog and twitter updates ticking over, writing my fortnightly free microMag, and also launching a second, fortnightly subscription email letter.
Resurfacing after a trip to London (accepting the need to stop and rest)
I’m slowly resurfacing after my lovely trip to London last weekend. Trying to slip back into my normal routine I had high hopes when I got home last Sunday that I’d be able to launch straight back into my regular routine. In fact I did try. I went to my regular Monday morning meeting with more »
I like custard. What do you like? Make some time to remember what makes you smile
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the things I enjoy. The things at make me happy and the things that make me smile. I’ve written before about how easy it is to forget to enjoy ourselves, how easy it is, if we’re limited in terms of time or energy, to get caught in a cycle of resting and doing and to forget to make time for fun and play and The Things that Make us Smile.
Feel the guilt and do it anyway (drinking hot chocolate and declaring a Day-in-Bed day)
I declared a Day-in-Bed day this morning. All day I’ve been indulging in the luxury of clean sheets, pots of hot tea, listening to the radio, napping and sipping hot chocolate.
Guest post: One or two things I know about time and creativity
Time is one of the big blocks that people put forward as impediments to being creative. Time is tricky. We know it doesn’t behave normally. Sometimes it crawls by and others it races like a crazy fake rabbit roaring along the racetrack of life.
Here are one or two things I know about time and creativity:
Why I’m throwing away my calendar and to-do list (at least for a month)
I’ve written quite a lot recently about how my energy has taken a bit of a tumble since finishing my new book. I’ve been taking things very easily, looking after myself and waiting for the energy to return. One thing I’ve done to help with the resting and recuperating is to call a halt to more »
Podcast round-up
My energy has been particularly low over the last few weeks, and I’ve been forced back onto old favourite ways of passing the time, looking after myself and (hopefully!) rebuilding some energy reserves. One of the things I love to do is to listen to the radio, not just live broadcasts but also some nurturing more »
-
I'm Michael Nobbs, an artist, blogger and tea drinker (not necessarily in that order).
I'd like to show you that it is possible to stay creative even when energy is in short supply, and how working on small creative acts on a regular basis can build over time into a substantial body of work (and even a creative career).
I've written a book called Sustainable Creativity. You're welcome to pay whatever you would like for it.
Delve a little deeper by becoming a member. If you'd like to delve a little deeper into the material offered here on Sustainably Creative, find out about becoming a member.
My new book, Getting Your Important Work Done, is currently free for members to download.
