Of all the challenges people share with me about creative living, finding the time shows up the most. How do we take time for our creativity when we have demanding jobs, families, schedules, when we have errands, chores, responsibilities? How can we sit down and write morning pages or pull out paints or dance when there are dishes to be done, lunches to be made, bills to be paid?

Here’s the thing. There will always be other things to do – important other things to do. If you wait until everything has settled, until all the to-dos are done, until wide open spaces show up on your datebook, you will be waiting a very long time. Maybe forever.

That’s why it is so important to figure out how to integrate your creativity and your self-expression into your life as it is right now. It may not look like a 3-hour class on a Tuesday night or a whole day of painting or hours on end of delicious writing time but it can be something that will bring you to life, that will nourish your creative heart, that will sustain your creative soul.

When I get really, really hungry, I used to believe that what I needed was lots and lots of food so I’d get myself a really big meal. But what I’ve learned (after many, many way too big meals) is that I don’t need lots of food to satisfy my hunger – I need food now.

This is also true of creative hunger. If we’ve been feeling deprived, perhaps for a very long time, our need for creative expression can be deep, intense and painful. We are ravenous! And in response, we think that the only thing that will satisfy our need is to dedicate our whole lives to our art, to quit our day jobs, to be painting/writing/photographing/decorating/designing all day, every day. And when that seems unattainable, we get frustrated, overwhelmed, depressed and angry. We give up (at least for now). We stay put and we stay hungry.

Now, it may be true that our heart’s desire is to become a full-time artist of one kind or another, but it may also be true that what we really need is something creative RIGHT NOW. We need to make a flower arrangement or create a stellar outfit or go to a coffee shop and write a poem. And tomorrow, our creative appetite needs to be satisfied again. And the next day, we need to be fed again. And again. And again. And again.

So start today. Find one way to invite creativity into your life as it is right now. How can you express yourself today? What can you make more beautiful, more interesting, more provocative? Where can you let your mind wander and explore? What words can you choose? What outfit will you try? Write one sentence. Take one picture. Draw for 3 minutes. Dance to one song. Sing along.

You are a creative spirit every day. Bring your self to life.

Over the next little while, as I continue to move in to my beautiful new home online, I’m going to bring some of my past content over to share. Originally published on Starshyne Productions.

In my work as a life coach, I talk to a lot of people about their dreams, particularly about hidden desires that lurk deep within people’s hearts. You know the ones, those things you’ve always wanted to do but have put on the back burner because it doesn’t seem possible or practical or affordable – that trip to Europe, that MA, becoming a dancer, having your own studio, running your own business.

And often when people share them with me, these dreams are quickly followed by a “but” – but I have a mortgage, children, a partner, responsibilities, limited time, limited money, limited energy, limits of every kind. And when I have paid off my mortgage (my student loan, my credit card debt) and am financially secure (well-off, rich), the children are in school (off to collage, graduated from university, financially independant), my partner has a more secure job (believes in me, gives me permission) and I have more time, money, energy, opportunity then I will….

Does it work that way? The Get-it-Done Guy Stever Robbins lists this approach as one of the Ten Great Cultural Career Lies. Here’s his take:#6 of Stever Robbins’ Ten Great Cultural Career Lies: I’ll work now and do what I love when I’ve accomplished (made my first million, cured cancer, etc.)

• Management consulting firms and investment banks use this lie as a recruiting tool.
• Dangerous strategy, and I know very few who’ve pulled it off. If you don’t do it, you’re left at mid-life trapped in a career you don’t like, with a non-transferable resume, and a network composed of people who are the last ones in the world who could help you do what you love. But boy, could they help you get even further in a career you despise.

Ouch, that last point really hit home for me. Every year you don’t pursue what you really want to do, you’re getting more and more firmly entrenched in that place you don’t want to be.

So what do you do? I am not suggesting you neglect your responsibilities, your bills or your loved ones. But I am suggesting that even in your busy, responsible, debt-ridden, exhausted life, you find a small space for your dreams, for your own personal joy. Just open a little window and consider what might be possible now. If you don’t make room on your plate, the Universe won’t know you’re hungry. It doesn’t have to be big. Take 5 minutes one morning researching violin classes in your neighbourhood. Say out loud to your partner that you think maybe you’d like to go back to school. Read a library book about starting your own business. Stop in at the travel agent at lunch and get a brochure for Paris. Open the door.

When I was training to be a coach, I really wanted to take the certification program. It cost $3500, and I didn’t have it. One day a friend I hadn’t talked to in years invited me to come talk to a group of people at her work about the power of coaching. I ended up with a contract. You’ll never guess how much it was for. Yep, $3,500. I am now a certified coach.

Open your heart to dreaming. Amazing things can happen.

PS A special thank you to Stever for giving me permission to quote from his work. Thank you!

Recently, our house has been through major changes. We renovated our kitchen and discovered much-needed repairs, which led to a whole lot of chaos, including external walls being demo’d and replaced. One of the rooms impacted was my studio, where I coach and where I create. I have only recently started moving back in.

This upheaval signaled a time of transformation, one that has touched many aspects of my life. It has been a time of releasing what no longer supports me in order to create a nourishing, authentic space for my current self and who I am growing into. Though it is challenging a lot of the time, the clarity it is bringing me is delicious.

Yesterday I donated 5 huge bags of books. In addition to their content, those books contained my history, my memories, my decisions and the interests of particular times in my life. I value those things but in this space, I want to create a flow around what I’m currently inspired by, what feeds my spirit right now. So I let the ballast go.

As the room starts to feel more spacious, I notice so do I. The joy of glancing over at my bookcase and seeing books that excite and engage me is thrilling. Having space on the shelves for creative projects is a dream! Creating space creates possibilities.

Yesterday I managed to clear off my studio table and it was a revelation! As soon as the space was free and clean, I recognized how deeply important it is for me to have a writing space – not a typing space, but a place for pen and paper, a place to journal and cut and glue. I didn’t know how hungry my spirit had been for that space until I dove in with enthusiasm as soon as it was available.  Since yesterday, I’ve re-started morning pages, completed an art project and journalled.

Creating a space for what is important to you right now can shift your energy tremendously. It can be as big as creating your personal studio space or as simple as clearing off a shelf. It can be creating a sacred space for meditation or dedicating a desk to writing. By making space for what you love, you let your self, those around you and the Universe know what is important to you, and when you do that, amazing things happen.  And even if you don’t know what you are creating space for, clearing the way will help with the discovery. There is room for you.

How does your space reflect your current loves? What little shifts and changes can you make to invite more of that yumminess in?

And if you’re looking for some help with your decluttering, my sweet friend Goddess Leonie has a decluttering e-course that turns the process into a goddess-releasing journey! You can find out more here.