This piece is currently hanging on my inspiration board above my desk. I tend to pin a lot of my pieces there because I’m a big believer of being inspired by your own work or accomplishments. When hanging this piece I took an unplanned moment to actually observe my work space and I thought “wow, what a mess.” It had been a while since I re-organized, updated the cork board with some new inspo and gave everything a refresh.
It’s amazing what 5 minutes of attention can do.
I’ve realized this a little more lately. I’m the type of person who looks at a list of things to do and tries to prioritize but if that list is just a little too long or those tasks look too big, I can get overwhelmed. Nine times out of ten that list gets done but what I’ve realized is that most of the time that feeling of overwhelm is for nothing.
I’ve always been in jobs that involve a lot of creativity. I’ve worked my way through a few retail positions over the last 10 years, after growing up in a family business. Merchandising was always my thing, and as much as I loathed working in malls and the customer service that comes with retail, I look back on all my visual jobs with incredible fondness.
My 9 to 5’s outside of my art career have always been enjoyable. From merchandising, to a stint in web design, to being tasked with a good chunk of marketing responsibility in my current job, I’ve always felt blessed to be able to utilize my creativity at work.
But in describing all these different types of creative work, they all involve a lot of organization, prioritization and time.
The funny thing about me is as creative as I am, I’m also a bit “by the book” or pushing OCD. I used to (and still do) tell people, “I’m weird. I’m a very creative person but also love being organized.” There’s something about the balance that I enjoy. I’m very much a person of routine and when things fall out of place or don’t go as planned, a whirlwind of anxiety often runs through me. This can be difficult to deal with in general but even more so when it negatively effects doing what you truly love.
I used to be a little oblivious to the amount of time it would take me to complete something. I was just happy to be tasked with doing something visual and would pour all my heart and soul into doing it well. But as I’ve moved into higher positions with companies (most frequently retail management), I’ve learned that sometimes putting your heart into something is a luxury and not a priority.
I developed a way of thinking that “if I can’t put my all into this, then I can’t do it right now.” And with that thought came “I need a lot of time to put my all into this.” And with that came procrastination and waiting for the “perfect” time or feeling. In reality, a lot of these tasks weren’t as big a deal as I was making them and completing them certainly wasn’t as lengthy of a task as I thought it would be.
A lot can happen in 5 minutes and I’ve surprised myself lately how much I can accomplish within that timeframe. I’ve learned that it’s better to put 5 minutes into something instead of nothing at all. This mindset has especially helped me with creative flow.
Creative flow is one of those things that’s hard to describe—but if you know, you know.
Sometimes creativity can’t happen on command. Like I mentioned about “perfect timing”, if it doesn’t feel right then it’s almost like your brain goes “it’s not meant to happen.” What helps me “stop” my brain from thinking that is saying to myself, “just spend 5 minutes on it.”
Even this post that I’m writing. It started with my wanting to share the creation of this pink floral piece in an Instagram reel. I had been putting it off because I didn’t feel inspired to put any time into it. But I started and look what happened? What was meant to be a short couple of sentences to make up a caption turned into an entire blog post.
I guess this brings me back to my topic of accomplishing lists that feel overwhelming. When I create my daily to-do’s, whether at work or in my personal life, there’s a satisfaction in completing just that list. But it’s when the extras are thrown in that my routine feels disrupted. When things don’t go as planned, it can be difficult for me to pick back up and try again. This is something that has become more and more apparent to me over the years (and clearly stems from some sort of trauma but I’m not about to dive into a therapy session here).
Sticking to the “5 minute rule” becomes that much more important in these moments. Eliminating the thoughts of “this is too much” and instead continuing to tackle each item on that list—even if only for 5 minutes—escaping that feeling of total defeat.
This can be a little more difficult when speaking of creativity specifically. Like I mentioned earlier—sometimes the moment just isn’t right and you can’t force it. However I’ve caught myself starting a new piece or playing with paint colours just for 5 minutes and watching a brand new piece unfold. Again, it’s amazing what 5 minutes can do.
In keeping with that theme, I had also been putting off re-starting this blog. It’s been something I thought about for most of 2024, but I knew I wanted some of my blog posts from years past transferred over. Which I knew would be tedious and time consuming—so I didn’t do it. I still haven’t done it (LOL), but I was able to put 5 minutes into creating something new and that’s opened the window for more posts to follow.
This pink floral piece sparked something in me when I created it a couple months ago. I had been struggling creatively (which seems to be a recurring theme with me every summer) and been feeling frustrated by a lack of inspiration, keeping me from spending time on what I love. I’ve felt a desire to shift back to my “creative basics” and welcoming back the Kathleen Lauren Creative Arts Blog is exactly what I think I need. Writing has always been a creative form that I enjoyed along side of my love for watercolours, ink and photography. So perhaps this is the missing piece that I have been longing for to feel inspired once again.
