Week 14: Coloring Outside the Hustle | Easy-Entry Creativity for Real Life

This episode is a love letter to low-pressure making—think coloring pages, air-dry clay trinkets, kitchen dance parties, and paint-by-number calm. We share dozens of tiny, doable ideas that fit into the life you already have, from cloud-spotting and junk-mail collages to Lego builds and car-karaoke. You’ll hear how these micro-moments gently retrain your nervous system to see creativity as safe, joyful, and yours. We also talk about following “kid-you” clues, keeping a Delight Journal, and building a cozy “comfort kit” so creating is always within reach. Plus, we put the best ideas into a handy PDF so you can try one tonight.

Click here to get your inspiration!

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

SPEAKER_00: 0:03

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. Easy entry creative ideas. Here we go. Last week we talked about mindfulness and mental health and self-care. And now we're going to talk about easy, kind of some easy ways to bring more creativity into your life that's low stress and to really help build up that, you know, safety around being a creative individual. Yeah. Ideas that don't take much. yeah much effort much you know not much supplies or anything like you can just kind of implement pretty easily into your day-to-day as is yes yes and we both decided we're just gonna create lists yeah and just come together and talk about talk about what we thought of which is fun yeah I'm excited to hear about what you came up with we haven't really looked at each other's lists much so we'll see what kind of overlap came up there is and that'll be fun yeah and this idea came from the fact that we both kind of got back into creativity through coloring yeah like coloring books was huge for us it was so huge it was like years and years at least for me it was years and years of not doing anything like not painting not you know crochet not not beading not doing any of the things that I kind of grew up doing I had this period of just Right. And yeah, reintroduced kind of that mindset, that mode of, of doing something creative, having a little bit of that outlet. And then it snowballed and has led us to both having art careers and so fun. Yeah, it's been amazing. So anyways, no pressure for you to, you know, snowball into an art career, but no, not at all, but we do, we do want you to have more. safety and joy and fun and to have more alignment and to just step into just a more creative aligned life it's our greatest hope for you yes yeah because we know from personal experience how impactful that has been for us yeah and how in for other people that we've you know talked to and how much joy creativity brings into our our lives and so starting with these easy entry ways you know, easy ideas that we can just have in everyday life that don't take much. I think that is so helpful. And I wish like I had had a little bit of that, you know, as well. And it would have been nice to kind of feel validated in that. For sure. And, you know, the goal is to train our nervous systems that creativity is safe and okay. that we you know that we wanted and needed and it's okay to have in our lives and the best way to do that is the little things the little steps the little actions that help us learn like okay it's okay to do this like with the coloring you know for us that was a low pressure way to just get pencil to paper and you know it's like I don't have to create this huge masterpiece I can just make some marks on a page. Should we dive into our lists and what we came up with? I figured coloring was on both of them. It was. Check that one off. I already got that one off. That was my first one. Mine too. There we go. Coloring. Done. Great, guys. We got it. Do you want to share one of yours? Sure. Crochet. That was my second one. I'll meet that with embroidery. Whoa. Well, my next one was knitting, which I don't even do. But it's fine. Yeah. Some of those textile arts. Yeah. That might feel a little, like– Intimidating. Intimidating. Like, that might be, like, oh, I don't have the supplies for it. I don't have– I mean, coloring, I guess, could be that way, too. But you can do, like, finger crochet. You know? Yeah. You can get some yarn and do finger crochet. Some big ones. That's a thing. But, yeah. Anyways, it doesn't have to be hard. It doesn't have to be– Yeah. I mean, some of the things on the list are going to be like, you might need supplies for this and it might be a new skill you have to learn. And some of it might just be a bit of a mindset shift. Yeah. And using something you already have around the house. So if that one coming right off was a little intimidating, it's okay. Stick with us. Yeah. Stick with us. Just skip over that one. It's fine. Yeah. And it all depends on what your goals are too. Like not everything we talk about is going to be for you and that's okay. Yeah. So take it with you. with a grain of salt, see what resonates with you and go from there. I love it. No pressure either way. I love it. So here's one solo dance party. Yes. Enjoy some music, move your body. Love that. I mean, you know, I had that on my list too. Dance in the kitchen. Dance in the kitchen. Cause I mean, it's just a moment of, you know, you don't have to be a dancer to enjoy that. Like I paint, I'm not a dancer and yet just moving my body that way, enjoying the music, Just having that moment of just feeling really alive and living in the moment helps spark creativity and just energetically gets the creativity moving through my– helps ground me and it just helps. I have been wanting to do that. I don't know. That's kind of been one in the back of my head for a long time, but feeling so– kind of intimidating too with just moving my body in that way. Um, but I finally did it a few weeks ago. I finally did it. And I just like, I was totally by myself, you know, it was a home alone and, and it, um, and I just, I danced in the kitchen and, um, it was, it was great. You know, I just kind of finally was able to let go and let myself just move and not worry about what anybody else might think if they saw me, which nobody was even there. So it was, you know, kind of obsolete thought anyways, but it's there that worry. And I feel like that is such a nervous system thing where we're, it's, it's just so in our bodies and it's so trained in our, in our mindset. And, and we're so worried about, you know, what other people will think or how we look or whatever it is. And so that we, that we keep ourselves from even doing it when we're all by ourselves alone, you know? Right. And so I feel like these things are really like this list of easy things is really great to start with, start with something that feels easy to you, you know? Yeah. And then, and then keep doing it and then. Or feels fun. Or feels fun, easy, fun. You know, it's not like forceful. Yeah. We don't want to try and force this into our lives, but we want to start with something that sparks a little bit of something in us, some joy in us and some, some, uh, like maybe a happy memory or, you know, a childhood and, and lean into it. Yeah. And like, you know, very gentle. We want to be gentle with ourselves. Yeah. And, you know, we talked last week about how you're a whole being and your creativity is, is part of that. And it's not like a checklist thing to, you know, that you have to like perform and do. It's just, it's just part of taking care of yourself as a whole person right yeah so anyways I love that yeah what's next on your list what's your next one air dry clay just getting some air dry clay and making something fun like a little low pressure craft yeah low pressure craft you don't have to have like professional pottery like I that's something that I would love to do is go like go on a pottery wheel and create pottery right but I don't have the meat like I don't have that right right so just going to the grocery store and getting like a little thing of air dry clay could still and making something could still be really fun it could be really fun and I love that too because that could totally be a solo activity or it'd be really fun with friends like getting together with friends and have like a cute little like craft night or like with your kids and then you have to follow up and have another fun craft night and paint it right yes after it dries oh my gosh yeah and then also it's great with kids yeah totally to do with your kid if you're dealing with that like mom guilt of like how do I fit creativity in there you go like or even play-doh play-doh yeah it's an option as long as you know it's great yeah you're not gluten-free and I can't actually use gluten-free play-doh it's fine it's not the same but yeah yeah you can let that dry it'll dry hard too yeah yeah that actually brings me to you know kind of one of my next things is have some time to think about what got you excited as a kid what's creativity and joy for you as a child yeah and this has been brought up to me like like I've been bringing it up to myself for like since becoming a mom yeah oh yeah totally and you know seeing what she gets excited about and curious about and there's been like it's a reminder right some overlap yeah it's like oh I remember loving that you know being around kids is really helpful it is really helpful for that but you know like when she was a we would look for little like fairy houses like in the bases of trees and like the roots of trees and even to this day like she's much she's a lot older now but you know we'll go for a walk you know through some woods or something like that and she's like can we look for fairy houses and I was like yes I love this that's so fun so we last week actually my son and I we I got out our air dry clay he wanted to get out the air dry clay that we had that I bought and I was like this would be great and we and has sat in the bucket for like months and months but he was like mom let's make a fairy house and I was like yeah let's do it and so we started getting you know we got it all out and we got the clay and stuff and then we were like well let's get some stuff from the backyard and so we got some little sticks and we were like let's make windows we haven't done it yet but we gathered everything we got little like uh seed pods for like shingles and you know we foraged in the backyard for things and it was fun thinking about it and he kind of you know I was like picking up a whole bunch of little things and he got distracted and started playing and I was like you know even if he doesn't want to finish this I kind of want to finish this it would have been something that I would have loved to do as a kid right but I was thinking about that and I was like you know I would still love to do it now as an adult. This delights me. This is fun. It makes me so happy. Why not just do that for myself too? I don't have to have a child to do this. I think it's so worthwhile to reconnect with that and realize this has been a part of me forever. For my whole existence. If the whole goal is to really align and come back to your yeah and that's a big part of it right yeah take that time to just really like what was important to me and if you're having a hard time thinking about it like it you know if you can like call you know your mom or another yeah grown up or look at like old things that you have like you know if you have some childhood drawings or you know like I used to make I used to write books where I would like get a whole bunch of printers Yes. kind of remind you because we forget, right? Yeah. Yeah. We get busy. Yeah. Okay. I'm going for another one here instead of taking turns, but just like keeping a delight journal. Yeah. You know, like keeping track of those things, writing it down, giving it space to actually be a thing. What delights me? What gives me that little spark of joy and happiness and what makes me smile and feel that little tingle of like, oh, this is so fun. Yeah. and like you know you don't have to trap yourself in a box yeah you know like I mean these ideas it's like okay well I paint professional so I have to do things in that vein it's like no I can have a dance party in my kitchen and that can influence my art and that can you know influence my how I'm showing up for my daughter and right you know it all works together yeah I can still like really enjoy children's books and the illustrations I love children's books so much like I want to collect like I collect them kind of you know like I get them for me I do I do collect I do it's let's be honest here my daughter is getting into chapter books and I'm still like look at this I can still get children's books right even though it's no longer yeah an excuse for you makes it okay for other people that I spend money on that it's right it's fine I love it yeah yeah so I still like to go look at children's books at the bookstore and go down the aisle and it's great so yeah just delighting that thing and giving yourself that yeah that space like you said and that permission to just delight in it and just enjoy it because it's just for you you know because you just do that's enough you don't have to have a reason to enjoy it and that is a process of coming to acceptance and that you know level of safety and confidence in your own self, but doing, doing little things like that is what builds that confidence and that safety. Yeah. It's, it's those little steps over time and those little moments of, Oh, that does delight me. And I, I, you know, recognizing it and giving it a space, right? 110,000%. Yeah. I've realized how much I say that a hundred percent, a hundred percent since we started, you know, I was thinking that earlier. I almost said a A hundred percent. And I was like, Oh, I probably say that too much. That's funny. Okay. I just, I resonate with what you're saying here. No, it's so good. Okay. I have another one though. Um, finding shapes in the clouds, watching, watching clouds. I love it. I know it's something that I, I remember doing a little bit as a kid, but since having, you know, having my son, it was like, Oh, let's do that. You know? And so we've done that like last summer, we kind of really started doing that. a lot more and I say a lot more but it's like occasionally we'll do that but yeah but that just the idea of that it's like you know I want to go back to that of that you know paying attention and seeing the magic in the world exactly just that magical kind of outlook on life it's so fun it's so fun and it's light you know it is in such a heavy world like we need that light and that that heartfelt goodness and just magic and creativity and imagination and childlike wonder, all the good things. Giving yourself space and time to daydream like that and to just find the magic in the world. Right. It's so needed. It's so needed. So I love that one. Yeah. Especially when we're in a place of taking in so much so much from others like whether it's like social media or what we're watching or you know and sometimes to just take a step back and letting yourself inform the situation does that make sense yeah yeah like just having your own perspective yeah and your own heart and like listening to that place instead of all the other voices around you I, I think that is one of the most impactful things that we can do. I think that is, I don't even think like I fully realize how impactful that is because I don't do it nearly as enough as I need to, you know, but the more that I do do it, the more that I am realizing how important that is and how, how much that impacts my mental health and And my emotional wellbeing and it's hard for me to take that space and to just check in with myself and to just be, you know, and not, and not feel like I have to just be doing, doing, doing or going or meet somebody else's expectations or, you know, intake somebody else's thing. Like just let myself be. It's hard. It is hard. And especially because I feel like a lot of the times when I am in that space of I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, Yeah. Well, I feel like we heard this somewhere. I don't even remember, but I heard we're wired for anxiety, like through all of our, I don't know. I feel like it's through our society and our culture and like all the news that we see and everything that everybody talks about. And like, we just kind of learn to be anxious, right? Yeah. And I mean, our brains and our nervous systems are, are wired to do that, to keep us safe, keep us safe for survival. And so Yeah. Yeah. have the power to do that for myself like oh it's so good yeah it's so cool when you start like learning like oh I don't have to live this way I don't have to just let my thoughts control me control me I don't have to let my thoughts control me and control what I'm doing and control what I'm thinking I have the power to control my thoughts I have the power to think to choose what I think and to choose where I'm gonna go right in my mental pathway And I'm going to make that pathway an actual road. And then a six lane highway, like I'm going to choose to walk down that lane. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I don't have to go down this other six lane highway that my thoughts are just used to going down. Yeah. I can choose to make it a different way. That's huge. It is powerful. It's so good. It's powerful. Okay. Next one. Yeah. So these, these things are ways I feel like that we that we do that. We take ownership of ourselves and our, and our thoughts and our intentions. Right. And our life, because our thoughts create our existence and, and our, and our life. Like that's what leads it. And we have the power to take hold of that. We do. And to shape our lives and to shape our, our, our worlds. Right. All right. Is it your turn or my turn? Yeah. Let's see. I think it's your turn. Okay. Another fun one. Like, lego sets are puzzles oh yeah i love that you may not think of that as being like necessarily creative especially if you're following you know like um i mean i guess like directions yeah yeah like legos you could follow directions or you could be totally wild and crazy and do your own thing yeah but either way it's It is helping with your– like it's good for your brain. Yeah, it's tapping into that side of your brain of that problem solving and creative thinking and looking for patterns and things like that. So it is– yeah, I totally love that. It's totally a creative practice even if we don't necessarily think about it that way. Yeah, and especially if you're building your own thing and you're not following a Lego set or whatever. It's like next level. Yeah, that's– okay to just follow the directions because that is, you know, it is, it is good for your, for your brain and the creative problem solving and figuring it out. And it's a, it's a step. Yeah. And you know, I, I never had Legos as a kid. My first Lego set was like last year. Oh really? Yeah. I didn't have Legos and, um, and my son picked out, it was his Christmas present to me, uh, was a Harry Potter, Harry Potter Lego set. And, um, it was so fun I loved it I was like I have been missing out uh yeah you have they're really fun they're really fun and um but legos can be expensive right though yeah they are but like at the dollar store they I see lego little lego sets all the time so you can get off brand for super cheap and it doesn't have to break the bank and you can still have a lot of fun yeah yeah I love it yeah okay I have card making making cards and stamps and things like that oh fun when I was a kid we would do that a lot my mom and I we would um get stamps and we would make cards and we would just I don't know it was it was really fun we would just make cards and give them to people or just stamp pictures and make like like I had this one um stamp set that was uh princess castles one and I remember making little like pictures with the stamps there was the princess and like the prince frog prince you know and the dress yes anyway so that was fun that was fun yeah well I love this too because it's so you can draw too you know yeah because this is just another part of life like if you're going to go to the store and buy a card right why not make it and again like craft night with friends yeah yeah like activity with kids like you know wherever you're at in your life like that's just it's fun it's like it makes it it makes it more fun and you know if you're giving it to another person it's just like another layer of you know, sending them love, you know, or like, you know, get well, like you're putting your energy into that, like, you know, whatever kind of card it is, like makes it even more personalized and fun. I just, I was going through some old things and there was a book that I had, um, from when I was, when, when I was a young girl, um, there was this sweet old lady. Um, she was a neighbor and, uh, we would, we were, she was like my grandma Like we would go over all the time and she got cancer and she was really sick. And so I made her this little note, you know, and, um, when she passed away, she gave me a book and inside the book was the note that I had made for her. She saved it and it really made, made, uh, made her day, you know, like she, it was really meaningful to her. And so she saved it and it was in the book. And anyway, so I still have it, you know, but it was cool. Yeah. It's like, you just, you don't know too. a lot of times how much of an impact things like that make for people and it is meaningful and it's like giving giving a part of yourself and your love to to another person so even though yeah even though you know I don't know I was like oh it's like I misspelled things right and it was like it doesn't even matter it doesn't matter yeah it probably made her day and it was a reminder of you know that she was loved and that she mattered and she's important and we all need that sometimes Yeah. And we all need to give that sometimes. So I love that. Yeah. And I, yeah, I have pictures from my, my son too. And my nieces and nephews, like I keep them cause they're, they're so sweet. Right. Yeah. Get well things. Like I have a thing that's like, get well mom. With an aliens and doing the peace sign. Yes. And a big heart. Boy mom over here. Yep. So it's sweet. I love it. Okay. So I have a couple, that are around food oh yeah I'm just gonna hang on I have to look at my list and find them all but like trying a new recipe that's creative yeah right for sure or like creating one if that's so oh man yeah or you know oh my god finding sorry that just reminded me when I was a kid too we me and my friend we wanted to make cupcakes and we're like let's make our own cupcakes and so we made our own recipe and we did the whole thing we were feeling so proud of ourselves and we made them and and they finally came out and we made our own you know icing too yeah and we were so proud and we were like try our cupcakes and they were disgusting they were so bad but we're like they're really good they're really good well you know sometimes it was really fun the outcome doesn't matter it's just that process and like you know having fun with your friend yeah it's like a core memory right like I remember it now even though it's pretty young. Yeah, I love that. My mom and I would go to restaurants and we would try things and then we would come home and be like, how do we recreate those? Yeah, that's so fun. It's so much fun. I'm going to keep going with the food and try and keep that a little organized. It's like finding a new ingredient. Oh, that's fun. A food you haven't tried before. It's like, okay, well, maybe just explore that for a week. Try some new recipes piece around that how to incorporate it if you like it if you don't like it what does it taste like yeah like finding out like different ways of preparing it and yeah I think like exploring life that way can be really can be really fun and I love food so I know I love that and as I've moved around to different places you know we've seen a lot more different cuisine I guess and things that I was like I didn't even know that existed right I didn't even know that was a plant or like a fruit like yeah and so it's fun but for other people it's totally normal so I love that I love I love trying you know I love trying different things new things like that and it can connect you to new cultures new like it's just it's cool I love the world of food opening up for it could be a whole new podcast yeah but I mean then there's you know like decorating cookies yeah you know some more like stand Right. way that's that's totally a creative outlet too you know the tea escapes yeah that's like a thing I used to love that yeah now cooking is more of a chore yeah it's like oh my gosh I have to like figure out dinner again oh no but then you know sometimes I'll I'll go to the store and I'll find something that I'm like oh like I haven't had this like I haven't had this in a while or you know like I don't know how to cook with this or you know and it just it's it's just it can be fun and it can make it yeah so much more enjoyable when you're having fun with it right when you're trying to have fun with it instead of it being a chore a drudgery like every single day but if you're thinking about it in a creative way you know consciously trying to think of it yeah then that makes it a lot more enjoyable bring that excitement back yeah just make it fun yeah why not let it be fun yeah it's not always gonna be but sometimes why not yeah yeah let's have more delight in our lives right yeah Okay. I put tracing pictures. Oh. Yeah. Okay. Sometimes when you just want to put– you know, move your hand and do something, but you're feeling overwhelmed with the blank page. Yeah. Tracing can be really helpful, and it can be so meditative too. Oh, okay. Just tracing and doing that. So that's– we're off the food train. Sorry. I derailed. No, that's okay. I– I was done. Okay. Except for I'm ready for lunch, but that's okay. Oh, yeah. Well, now we're hungry. Yeah. That's cool. Tracing pictures. I don't know if that was on there. I might need to try it. To try it. Yeah. I actually did that when I was trying to figure out, like, figure drawing. Oh, yeah. And it was really hard. Like, I did trace some. I mean, I didn't trace it and be like, this is my original art. Here you go. Yeah. know those were just like little things that I kept for myself but yeah it was really helpful and helped me learn yeah I was gonna say I feel like if you're really wanting to get into drawing too that can be a really good way to kind of get you in the door like start learning right yeah start learning and and getting your hand used to the movements and the lines and and just practicing yeah well I mean it's kind of similar to like I guess I'm thinking about it like coloring you know like you already have the picture figured out so it's like low stress but if you're wanting to get into like painting like you know tracing something might be really helpful because then you're not like oh I have to figure out the perspective and all of this it's like okay no no no you have the picture like figured out so you can just focus on like mixing the paints yeah filling it in and you know yeah I also have paint by number on here oh which I feel like is fun yeah it's a fun way to get into into painting that's low stress and no you know the low pressure like most of the work is already done for you but it's just that yeah there you have the paints figured out exactly but if you want to paint yeah yeah gets you in there right gets you painting and it's fun using the paint brushes and yeah but there's like no pressure of it like having to be this amazing masterpiece exactly yeah filling it in I love that that's so fun um okay another one like let yourself have fun getting dressed ooh that's fun putting your outfit together and just being like oh I'm gonna have fun with this again which once again I feel like I keep coming back to this but like becoming a mom it was just like what's easy what do I not care about getting gross what's comfy sometimes it's not always practical but sometimes it's fun to be like I'm gonna put on a cute shirt today with a necklace that I like take care of yourself in that way yeah and let it be fun think a little creatively right yeah I mean again easy yeah easy entry creative things where we're just letting creativity be a part of our life in the day-to-day little moments yeah yeah I have I have flower arranging on there which I think can be fun too in that way where you know like if you love to get flowers and have flowers I do love to get flowers yeah anytime anytime and But instead of picking like a prearranged flower, it could be fun to just get like the individual, you know, flowers and leaves and then put them together yourself. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. You can make a little like frog. Is that what they call it? Like a flower frog out of the like air dry clay. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's fun. Yeah. You like press it in there and stuff. Oh, that's so fun. Yeah. So beautiful. I haven't done either of these things, but this is Sounds fun. I love it. Let's see. Oh, more journaling. More journaling ideas. It's like a brain dump journal or like early morning journaling can help get the creativity going. Like sometimes it's not even like creative journaling. you know like talking about creative things sometimes it's working through life stuff yeah but it's just like let let it flow and it helps get you into that flow state it helps the energy get moving it yeah you know it helps release blocks and that can help 100% I said it 100% how many times keep a tally yeah one of the that's actually really good that reminds me of The Artist's Way by Julie something The morning pages. I highly recommend reading that because it really helped me get back into my creative being I guess like and accept that I you know like my creativity and really open the door but the but the morning pages yeah journaling every morning her thing is first thing when you wake up journal three pages whatever comes to mind it doesn't matter just write it down three pages first thing in the release the blocks and whatever, you know, just get everything out and then you're going to be so much more open during the day. And I, I was sort of consistent off and on, but when I did do it, it was, it was really helpful. It was really helpful. So I think that's, yeah, I think that's a really good one. And I feel like getting your hand on the page, that's got lots of like, um, lots of good benefits too, for your, for your brain. Um, and then, um, and it blank paper less scary yeah yeah because you're in a practice of it like regularly yeah making marks on yeah marks on the page I mean how many of us have blank journals I have several right that just like aren't being used yeah how many sketch paths right yeah sketch paths that we're scared to put marks in I need to start doing this yeah yeah I mean it just is a practice that can even even if it's something you know, like you're wanting to be drawing, you know, it can just help get that fear of like the blank page. Yeah. And I found too, like I love journals, um, and I, I, I get them and then I don't use them because I'm like intimidated by them, but I found for the morning pages, um, and even for, for just regular journaling, something that's really helpful for me is getting those like 39 cent notebooks at Walmart or wherever, or the dollar store, you know, like just getting a really super cheap one that I can just like throw away if I want to like it's no pressure I don't have to keep it forever you know it's yeah it's not anything special or fancy and I can just look on it you know like I just get it out and so that that's that was a helpful tip for me yeah no I love that yeah that's good all right your turn okay um I have my list um rock collecting I rock collecting and rock painting that that's a fun thing too oh that is fun that was like a whole that was I feel like a fad of several well maybe when I was younger but a while ago you know rock painting rocks there's like painting rock painting kits I think that they sell too but um yeah just going out finding rocks that's something that I've always loved to do my mom and I we just like yeah it's like oh look at rock oh my gosh i keep wanting to make like garden markers oh like doing like rock painting but like oh i love that idea i know i think it's fun i keep wanting to make some for my friend who really likes gardening yeah but then i'm like i don't know if i want to send a bunch of rocks in the mail fair i feel like it'd be a really fun gift yeah yeah that's cute that's fun and yeah and then that's like low pressure you just go find some fun rocks and paint them when or just keep them you know that's good too but yeah yeah with garden art yeah yeah doesn't have to necessarily be useful but yeah no that's really attention to yeah paying it's that mindfulness aspect of it too you know and finding what sparks the light in you so yeah love that i love that too um okay so another one for me is like romanticizing things which is it's been pretty big on social media lately like romanticizing your life but um it could be something as simple as like um you know decorating a small space that you use regularly like a coffee bar or like you know a tea corner or that's so fun you know your bathroom where you do your you know like moisturizer stuff in the evening or you know something that is like a day-to-day practice but like make it make it a little cute make it very you make it so that when you get to that place it's like oh this is you know I don't know it makes it more fun it does totally words but yeah yeah no I love that that's something that I have totally been trying to do with my with my things I mean I mentioned I was just going through some boxes and stuff and it was so fun because I found all all these like cute little fun things that I've had for so long and it was like oh I love this I remember this you know and so I was like I need to get these out and have them around so that I can enjoy them right yeah and then I can have my space really feel like me and feel fun and whenever I see it it'll be like oh I love that you know and it'll bring that that joy and that that fun memory or you know that delight it'll just light me up a little bit yeah and it doesn't necessarily have to be like go out and buy like pretty containers and things like that like it might just be you know organizing it or setting it up yeah or or decluttering yes getting things out that too you know that that's a thing yeah but just you know to make it a little more special because you know you deserve you deserve to be have a little special moments yeah you know make it a little more delightful I love that yeah um yeah I love that okay another one that I had on mine was origami I have that too oh no way that's fun yeah yeah yeah which I think that can be um that can be a And then you can just use printer paper or whatever you have, you know. There's so many YouTube tutorials and things like that. So I'm going to build on this one a little bit. Okay. Because I have noticed when I get like chocolate wrappers or like candy wrappers or when I'm at a restaurant and, you know, have like the straw, the paper that comes off the straw. Yeah. Like I started making snails when I, you know, like roll it up and then I make their little like. I love that. Anyways, make little snails and, and, you know, I'll make like little paper airplanes with chocolate wrappers and like serve them with my daughter. Yeah. But it's just, you know, it's just like a few, a few seconds of just making creative a little fun. No, I love that. With garbage. Perfect. Why not? Why not? Yeah. I love that. So it doesn't, it doesn't have to be this, you know, Again, it doesn't have to be this big production, this big thing. It can be something that simple. Yeah. Folding up your garbage in a fun way. Boom. There you go. Done. Done. That also makes me think of, so I wrote down junk mail collage. Oh. You know, as you're getting like these ads and junk mail, like why not make a silly little collage with it before you throw it away? It's so funny. Yeah. I remember, I don't know, like some assignment in class where we'd have to find make a collage from old magazines or something you know and find the words clip out words and make a I remember doing like a candy board too for somebody where we would like use the candy and make a message and anyways yeah fun little creative things like that yeah it's great I love it I mean it can be yeah so simple right I've got two for the car oh tell me about that So like one is just singing in the car. Oh, nice. Yeah. Why not? Just sing in the car. Okay. I'm going to add to that. Okay. Okay. Because I wrote down singing in a silly voice and like pretending you're an opera singer or like, you know, some other country singer. You can just, yeah, just have fun. And the car is the perfect place to do that. It is. It is. Or the shower. Or the shower. I guess that works too. I love that. And then the other one is like drive home a new way. Oh, yeah. Oh. Oh, yeah. That's good for you. Yeah. You don't necessarily think of it as creative, but it's actually really, really healthy and good for your brain and to help just open it up and keep your brain young and healthy, which is great for creativity. Yeah. So I love that. Yeah. That's really good. I love that. I had to do that a lot with biking again. We went different ways than we would in the car. And it can be kind of fun too. Yeah. an adventure you know if you think of it in that way go on the adventure yeah and then you see new things and yeah learn your area better yeah yeah I like doing that and being like oh what these are cool houses over here or look at this beautiful place over here this park you know right and it can it can be really fun mm-hmm so speaking of that like take a class oh yeah it could be online it could be in your area your local area Yeah, we get, I get in the mail, I get this, um, community thing every year that has community classes just through the community center. It's not through the college or anything, but there's a lot of classes. There's like creative writing or, uh, I think there's a, there's dancing, there's yoga, you know, there's like a whole bunch of things. Um, and you can sign up for them. And so there, I'm, there are things in your community that, you know, even if you don't know about them, but you can look You can look and you can find them. Learn a new skill. Again, good for your brain. And, you know, it could be community connecting. Yeah. Or online, too. You know, that's an easy way to do that. But if you're wanting that in-person class, there are in-person classes. You just have to do a little digging sometimes. But it can help you make friends, too, which is really good and really healthy and helpful to have friends who are curious about the same things you are and exploring similar things. Yeah. One class that I have been wanting to do is– pottery wheel class at the local pottery painting place. Yeah, I know. And they also, they offer classes. It's a place, it's like a store and you can go and you can paint pottery. That was on my list too, painting pottery. But then they do offer classes. So a lot of times too, businesses like that might offer classes. And so you could ask, which is super fun. I think a neighbor is doing yard work. So if you hear that in the background, I am sorry. So that does make me think about gardening. There you go. There's another another creative outlet could just be a pot pot inside. Yeah. It could be a full on garden and just, you know, get your hands in the dirt. So good for you too. Yeah, that is really good. And you can, you know, there's a lot of creative thinking that can go into that of like what plants would look good, you know, the heights and the areas and where I'm putting it and the sunlight, like, you know, you kind of have to plan and get creative a little bit with gardening too. So landscaping, landscaping. Yeah. Yeah. No, I love that. That's fun. Do you have another one on your list? I have finger painting. Oh, I have that too. Again, getting back into that little kid mode. Childhood. Not taking things too seriously. Yeah, I think that can be really fun, really freeing and just, you know, just getting in there and letting yourself, giving yourself that permission. Don't even have to buy paintbrushes if you don't have all the arts of life. That's right. You just use your fingers and you're good. Getting started. I love that. Also just setting a 10 minute timer for whatever creative thing you're doing. If it's like making marks in a sketchbook, if it's doing, you know, yoga or moving your body, if it, like whatever it is, just like, oh, I don't feel like being creative today. I don't feel like doing it. I was like, okay, just set a 10 minute timer and that's 10 minutes. That's all you got to do. Yeah. And if you want to go beyond that, great. If you don't, You did your 10 minutes. Like you're doing good. Yeah. And that can be kind of fun. That can be, um, like a little incentive of like either, uh, I, you know, it only has to be 10 minutes at low, low pressure. Right. Or you can be like, how much can I get done in 10 minutes? You know, it can be kind of fun. Like you can, you can challenge yourself a little bit or like 30 seconds, you know, like what can I sketch in 30 seconds or what can I do in 30 seconds? Um, I have scribble art, which I feel like would be good with a 10 minute timer, you know? Yeah. Oh, I'm adding to that one. I said draw with your left hand or your non-dominant hand or blindfolded. Oh, that's so fun. Yeah, I love that because one time I saw this mother who was selling her artwork. She's an artist, but she would take the scribbles, her drawings of her toddler, and then she would create some pictures. She would paint in the lines and create a picture out of her child's. Oh, that's cool. um scribbles and it was like oh I love that idea it was so cool and like what creativity that takes yeah that's amazing so but you can do that with your own scribbles right you can I can't even imagine yeah I know like you'd have to be in a whole different side of your brain right but um it would be really cool that's like a fun challenge you know yeah that sounds really fun really cool so yes finding finding pictures in scribbles is really cool oh man my daughter would love that she would feel like so special like you know working on it something together and like collaborating like yeah that's fun I know I love that it's stuck with me all through the years all right I've got two more journal ones I've had a couple journal ones not keeping this very organized no that's okay go for it right so one of them is like a romanticizing journal or like a poetry journal oh poetry self-explanatory but like the romanticizing one is you know you can write about ordinary moments in your life just like ordinary things but just do it in a poetic way just have fun with words exaggerate like yeah just let yourself like get into it the lawnmower outside was buzzing through the window just yeah like just go a little nuts go a little crazy just make it fun like why not oh that's fun I have poetry on mine too and I have haikus specifically because they're so short yeah And, and so, you know, that's pretty easy. You just like do the syllables and it's kind of fun to challenge yourself. Like what can I make in seven syllables? Right. Play with words. That's fun. That's fun. I like that. And then the other one is just keep an ideas journal. Oh, there you go. Yeah. Yeah. If you have ideas or sparks of curiosity or things that you want to try, like write them down, keep a list. I think that's really great. Yeah. Because then that, That's also a practice of giving yourself permission to be in that mindset in the first place, right? Yeah, that's what this is all about. That can be a really great place to begin is just write down your ideas. Like give yourself that space. Give your ideas that space, right? Yeah. And recognize them. So that's great. Yeah. I have beading, making jewelry, beading on there. I don't remember. Did I put that? I don't remember if I said that before. we talked about that last episode okay okay yeah um but yeah making jewelry beading um it can be as simple as like getting those little plastic beads from the dollar store another great craft one with friends or with your kids yeah i love that though making making something making it fun we realized how long this is going and i think we've started speeding up like oh my gosh we're like yeah um that reminded me though the beading um you were We're talking about embroidering with beads. Yes. Which could be also, that's a really fun thing. Very tactile. Very. That's super fun. Yeah. I love that. That's a little sparkle. Right. Okay. I think I've got three left. Okay. How are you doing on yours? I think I'm almost done. Yeah. I think I maybe have like one left. One left. Okay. Two left. I have two left. So something like creating your own Halloween costume instead of buying one. I love that. It's so fun. It's so fun. So. my mom growing up she would always make my Halloween costumes so did my mom and it was the funnest thing because we would go and we would pick out the pattern and you know this is like pretty intense sewing like she was really good at it but but picking out the pattern of what I wanted to be and then we would pick out the fabric and then she would make it and it was super fun but you can also do it with things that you have you know like how can I as an adult that's kind of what I've done going trick or treating um the last couple years with my son like oh well i guess i should dress up too what do i have like what can i throw together that would make a fun costume or something you know we would always go to the second hand store and get things that were already made and then we'd like you know either dye different colors or my mom was more inclined to use the like uh glue gun rather than actually sew things yeah yeah she's way easier she can sew but she was like i don't want to yeah fair enough so we'd like paint details on things and just like get really into it. Cardboard. Yeah. That's so many good memories from that. It was so fun. I had to add that on the list. Yeah. I love that. It's just, it's just fun. Um, do you have another one? Um, doodling, doodling in the margins. Yeah. Doodling the margins or just, yeah, I think that goes with the timer too. That kind of goes with the scribble art, but you know, you have something like that you like to do, uh, like leaves. I always do flowers or leaves or you know what I'm doodling yeah I remember always watching my mom doodle when she was like on the phone yes mine too yeah that's fun or she would doodle on like our if we had like a field trip or something and we had a you know brown paper bag lunch she would always like you know do a little sketch on there for us yeah it always made us really happy that's fun okay another one you know listen to a creative podcast hey Oh. I think we might know one for you. We might have a recommendation. Except you're already here. We're so happy about that. Check that one off. You're already doing it. Great job. You're already doing it. You know, it's that community building. It's realizing you're not alone. Yeah. Yeah. You know, just helping you keep up and be in that creative mindset. Yeah. And feel validated. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I love listening to other people's podcasts. You know, that's really helpful for me. so yeah yeah it's a good one okay my last one is paper crafting so um you know I talked about cards and stuff but paper crafting you do like there's like the twirly paper crafts where you make fun yeah I don't even know what that's called but leveling up my snail really cool yeah extra snails um yeah collage you know you can make you can like rip colored paper apart and make collage and make pictures out of them um or like like, what's it called? A stained glass window kind of vibe, you know? Oh, okay. Tissue paper. Yeah. Yeah. So there's lots of fun crafty things with paper that are fun. That are fun. Yeah. That was my last one. So what do you have? Okay. I've got my last one and it's kind of, it's like create a comfort kit. Ooh, tell me more. So, you know, this is a making it more accessible making it more fun so you're doing some like work up front but you know putting together this kit that you know in the evenings when you want to like wind down instead of just turning on a show you can have that on in the background but it's like you just put something together to help you just relax and feel good so you can put you know a tea that helps you relax you can get together the coloring books or the embroidery or the crochet or like whatever it is that you're wanting to do and just like have it all all together you could have a warm blanket Oh, I love that. to yourself and then it's easier to just pick up grab your bag or whatever you have and yeah a tray or a bag or you know whatever it is just you know just make it easier and more accessible for yourself like in the evenings when you want to unwind or weekends or we know yeah I love that idea I think that's great we could keep you know we could just keep going like there's so many ideas out there to really make this more accessible and if you have some or something that has helped you or that you really love, whether it's something that we talked about or something completely different, we would love to have you come share. Please share. We would love to hear. And tell us about it. And we're going to have a PDF with all of our ideas written out. I don't know if we've already said that. We might have. But the link is down below. You can go download it if you want to have an easier thing to look through that's not an hour long. Yeah. Right. You know, have a list of like, if you're in the moment thinking, trying to think of ideas, you can just like look at it and, and have it right there. Boom. Thanks for being here with us today. Yeah. We'll see you next time. 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