Week 12: Finding Creativity in the Everyday

This week we reflect on what it means to show up for ourselves in little ways—even when life doesn’t go as planned. From sketching for just 15 minutes to snapping a photo of flowers, we’re learning how even the smallest acts of creativity are valid and worthy. We talk about habit-stacking, finding joy in ordinary moments, and giving yourself permission to delight in what you love. This episode is a gentle reminder that your creative practice doesn’t have to be perfect to matter—it just has to be yours.

Thank you so much for listening.

If you know someone who needs this kind of gentle nudge, send it their way. The more kind, creative hearts in this space, the better.

And if something in this episode resonates or makes you smile, come say hi on Instagram @theartpeaceexperiment 🤍

Transcript

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Music Music Welcome to the Art Peace Experiment. We're your hosts, two artists and friends. I'm Tasha. And I'm Brianna. At the end of 2024, we decided we wanted to cultivate more safety, peace, love, alignment, and excitement through our art and our art practices. So here we are sharing our journey with you. And we're so excited you're here. We hope you enjoy our conversations. They're honest, raw, just just two friends talking to each other about the realities of life and creativity. We're so excited for you to join us and be along with us for the journey. 12. Slight confession though. Last check-in, I said week 10. It was actually week 11. We got the weeks a little mixed up. We did. I sat down because I was trying to keep it straight in my head and I was getting really confused. So I sat down and I like wrote out a whole chart with like the week of the experiment and the dates that went with it and was like, oh. What have we been doing? What's going on? Yeah. What is life? I need more organization that I can visually see because I'm a very visual person and I was trying to keep it straight in my head like I could when I was a teenager and I am not that person anymore yeah gone downhill it's fine yeah we're good but exciting because next check-in week 13 is actually going to be our quarter check-in we've almost been doing this for three whole months oh man it's really flown by it doesn't feel like it's been that long I I know it's like we're a quarter of the way through this experiment and I'm excited to talk next week and have our check in and like it'll be super fun the overview of how it's been going yeah from the beginning to now yeah okay so tune in next time because we're gonna be talking about it we're gonna be talking about how it's going not just week to week but like overall for three months so it's gonna be yeah but I just have to take that moment to like celebrate like oh my gosh we've like we've been doing it that's a win celebrate Celebrate the little wins. Yeah, we've been showing up. We've been showing up ourselves. Anyways, we'll talk more about that next week. Yeah. Did you get creative this week? Did you make art? How did it go? What happened? Yeah, so check in. Yeah, so my parents came to visit. My mom was here all week. So it was a little bit of a different week for me because, you know, it wasn't normal, my normal schedule. But I did have some moments where I tried throughout the week to kind of sneak in that creativity and stuff. So I sketched for like, I don't know, maybe 15 minutes one night. I crocheted. a little bit one night, mostly in the evenings where it's like we were a little quieter and had some more time. But also during the days, I think the creativity and the creative mindset is really just that. It's a mindset, right? And you don't have to have– Mm-hmm. But one of the most helpful things is to stack habits with something that you already do. So the new behavior that you're trying to implement, you kind of combine it with what you already do. So like if you're trying to drink more water, right? You get up. And brush your teeth and then if that's a habit that you already have in place, you know, you just, oh, I drink a cup of water right after I brush my teeth, right? So you kind of combine it. Anyways, so I feel like that when we're trying to– trying to implement more creativity in our lives, that's a really good way to go about it. It's not to feel like you have to kind of separate your life from your creative practice, but kind of incorporate it throughout your, throughout your day with what you're already doing. So such a good point. Yeah. Thank you. So, um, I feel like I've struggled with that because I've I've struggled with the mindset of I have to have it all set up and all perfect, and I have to have my only creative time all separate from my day-to-day life and my things that I have going on. But as this experiment has gone out, and we'll probably talk about this more in our check-in, but it's, it's kind of shown me that, oh, we're just, we just added in and it's in the little moments and it adds up and it, and it's valid too to have those little moments. Yeah. And it's important, especially when you're starting out. And we talked about this like off, off bike a little bit, but like before we started recording, but it's, you know, like we're in different phases of incorporating creativity into our lives. And like, I've been in a place where I, have been creating art really consistently for the last few years. And many, many years before that was emotionally doing the steps to prepping, prepping to be at that place that I could be creating art to that extent. And not everyone is necessarily going to be creating this much art. in their lives. Like I am because it's my, it's my career. It's right now. It's what I, it's what I'm like when I'm doing day to day. And not, not everyone that's not going to be realistic and that's fine, but you know, just showing up that consistently for yourself and, and building the safety for it. It starts with those, those, little moments that like that mindset shaped the intentionality of it. Yeah. And, and not belittling yourself, you know, it'd be so easy, especially with something like this, where we are having this like year long art challenge. It's like, I have to create a painting every single week. And sometimes that's just, it's just not realistic. Yeah. You know, you had people staying with you and other things were going on. And sometimes it's recognizing like, oh, but I sat down and I crocheted and I did do something creative for myself this week that helped help fill me, help me feel good, help give me that mental space and everything. And it's so easy to belittle ourselves for that because it's like, oh, I didn't hit my goal. I didn't meet this expectation that I set for myself. So then you beat yourself up on it where really it's just celebrating even the little steps, celebrating even the little wins because the goal isn't necessarily to actually make a painting every week. It's exactly to give yourself some space, some freedom to create, to say, you know what? I'm worthy for that this week. I'm worthy for that today, right now, right now. And it's, you know, it, it makes me feel good. It helps me show up in my life in a more aligned, better way. Yeah. That's the real goal here. Yeah. And you met that this week. Yeah. Right. And just like stopping and taking a picture of some pretty flowers, something that caught my eye was like, Ooh, I love that. That's so beautiful. I want to capture that where I feel like before, you know, like before several years ago, like several years ago, I felt so, um, Timid in stopping and delighting in things, right? Yes. And it is worth my time. You're worthy. I'm worthy. And the things that I delighted and love and, and value are valuable, you know, like it matters. It matters. And so it's, it's so much bigger than just creating a painting every week. Right. Yes. It's, it's really about self-worth and love. I mean, we talked about this before, but it really is. It comes down to that. And it's, it's really, it's so deep. And, um, And we'll talk more, I think, about this in our check-in

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next

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week. But yeah, those were the kind of things that I did this week was stop and take pictures of flowers. You know, like literally stop and smell the roses, right? Yeah. And my mom and I, we love going to antique shops and antiquing and finding beautiful things. And so we did that this week and I found some things for my office and I was like, oh, this would be perfect for painting or whatever, you know, and found this amazing amazing inkwell it's so cool so i'm gonna push post a picture of it on instagram if you're if you're interested in seeing i want to see it i haven't seen it yet i know i'm saving it oh my gosh well it's fabulous i'm gonna i'm gonna come see it in person it sounds good even better you sorry you you get to see it you get to see a picture i get to see it in person Yeah. So anyway, so it was really fun though. I mean, just really, it's about connecting with yourself. Right. And taking that moment, that time, it doesn't have to be a long time, but just taking that moment of being real with yourself, checking in with yourself and, and validating yourself and validating the things that you love and that spark your delight and your interest and, and being okay with that, you know, and, and having that moment of self-love. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which is, oh, I love this. So good. It's so important. Yeah. It's so important to know. And I love that we're talking about this too, because it's not something you always think about. I feel like our go-to is just be productive, hit the goals, hit the expectations. And it's often so... unrealistic and we beat ourselves up and because life doesn't go by a checklist you know no like it doesn't go by the plan it doesn't ever actually especially when you're in this mindset and like mode of healing and growth yeah and flourishing is Sometimes there's a bigger plan at work. Yeah. You know, like something there's– sometimes it runs deeper and there's more to it than that. And you're like on this emotional journey that doesn't live by checklists. Yeah. You know, like other things are at play. And sometimes you have to go with the flow of that. Yeah. And be like, oh, I didn't even realize like– I was going to have this roadblock or, you know, like detour. Yeah. Because, you know, like either life throws something at you or something emotionally comes up that you're working through and it can change things. And your creative practice is really there to support that. 100%. It's not there to get in the way of it. And we need to stop like looking at it, you know, that way. Yeah. Yeah. Cause yeah. Yeah. Because it's about really resiliency too, you know not, not just going by the checklist, but being able to be flexible and being able to work with real life and, and have it work, have your creative practice work with you and not against you. Right. And work for you instead of, you for it, I guess. And be a support to you and be a safe place and a place of delight and joy and of renewal and not of draining and stress and, you know, but of, yeah, just to renew yourself. Yeah. Yeah. And connect with yourself. I feel like I was on the opposite end. of this this week because I did two paintings you were like go go go I did two paintings this week but it was kind of coming there's like two parts to this because part of it was that the last three paintings I did each took two weeks and just to finish and they're not big or intense paintings it's just like why did why do these take so long like yeah man took time I just took time with it and it's like I gotta like I gotta make more I gotta get going and So I had some of that energy

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in

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it, but then there was also a part of me that was– I tried gouache for the first time. Oh, so fun. How did it go? Gouache was really fun. Well, kind of crazy because I– I used gouache, which is a new medium. Yeah. I did a landscape, which I am not a landscape. I am not a landscape artist. Join me. Yeah, for real. I was like, I want to do this. Yeah, it's so fun. And then I also, I didn't do a sketch. Whoa, that's not your style at all. Yeah, I just went a little wild and crazy and was just like complete exploration i love it i did i did play but you know the last few paintings i've done very meticulous detailed yeah you know like small details and i had it all planned out and um they were monochromatic so they were like value studies which at first i was like oh this is gonna be so much easier because it's just like the value study but But then it just– I got really sucked into, like, the details of it. The perfectionism of it. Yeah. Yeah. And I just needed that, like, palette cleansing, I think, of doing something, you know, just different. Yeah. And I did. It was a little wild. And then I did another watercolor thing.

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another

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watercolor painting and and I was and I had it in me of like I need to finish this this week I need to get it done this week and which wasn't necessarily a conscious thought but it was that you know like I'm realizing now that as we're having this conversation of like oh I I It's okay to slow down. It's okay to take the time. It's okay to enjoy the process and the steps. And I don't have to be a machine. Yes. Yeah. Making and making and making and making sure that I'm hitting the deadlines and the self-imposed deadlines. Right. Right. And expectations. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it comes in two parts because I really just wanted to paint this. Yeah. Sometimes it just flows. Yeah. And you have that opportunity and you're like, woohoo, and you just go. Which that was part of it. And then the other part of it was like that a little more unhealthy– Expectation of I got to produce. Yes. Yeah. And so trying to find a little bit more balance. Yeah. Which I love that because I love– I don't know. I guess I love that we're talking about this and I love that we're doing this experiment because that is what this is all about. Like what we're trying to do here is unlearn those unhealthy expectations and lean into learning. our delight and lean into safety and lean into just letting go of the stress and, and having it be a safe place and a joyful place. Right. And so we're not going to have it perfect. We're not going to have that down, you know, uh, from the very beginning where it's something that we have to work on and that we're going to go back and forth about. And so it's, it's so helpful to be able to have each other to kind of talk about it and like it's been so helpful I don't rely on each other yeah and remind each other you know like this is what it's about it's okay yeah it's okay to slow down yeah it's okay to let go it's okay to play

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and

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just not have those expectations and it's okay to have this be a safe safe place and we don't have to worry about the outside expectations mm-hmm So yeah, that's, that's why we created this and that's why we're here and, and sharing this podcast so that we can create this community for everyone and, you know, for, for, we can expand this. Right. Expand our community. Yeah. And, and, and, I feel like our friendship and art practice and everything has been growing and deepening and it's been good. It's maybe more of a three-month check-in topic, but it's exciting. It feels good. Yeah. Yeah. Love it. Good work this week. High five. High five. All right. So that's our artist check-in for week two. 12? Is that what we're on? Yes, we will see you next week at our quarter check-in. We're so excited. Alright, we'll see you there. That's it for today, friend. Thanks for spending this time with us. We hope you're leaving with a little more light, a little more peace, and maybe even a nudge to go be creative just because it brings a little more joy to your life. If anything in this episode spoke to your heart, sparked a thought, or made you smile, we'd love it if you'd follow the show, leave a quick five-star review, or share it with someone who might need a little creative encouragement too. And remember, your creativity matters. Your voice matters. You matter. We're cheering you on Always until next time, keep making, keep softening and keep showing up as your whole beautiful self.