31 Days of Nurturing My Creativity

White crab spider on a lantana at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia
White crab spider on a lantana at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia
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Nothing feeds the center of being so much as creative work.
– Anne Morrow Lindbergh
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The things you do every day take on a certain beauty, and provide a kind of invisible architecture to daily life. – Gretchen Rubin
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Welcome to my landing page for 31 Days of Nurturing My Creativity.  If you want to see my posts for the month, jump to the bottom!  There are also links to posts I’ve done previously about creativity.

Why I Am Doing This

Several months ago, I questioned whether I was doing enough to nurture my creativity.  By the time I finished writing my post, I decided that I was doing better than I thought, but not as good as I wanted to be doing.

In September, I participated in the 30 Days of Lists.  I posted a few of them to share, then realized that I’d rather spend that time working on my photography.  I did my lists everyday in my paper journal and thoroughly enjoyed it.  All that changed was I chose to not share it so frequently.  Instead, I worked on my pictures every night.

My Vision (Because Everyone Needs a Quest)

I intend to continue this nurturing of my creativity for the next 31 days.  Some of my posts might be simply the photographs I worked on that evening (with before and after examples), others will be longer as I record what is inspiring me or influencing my creativity.

It helps me to set out expectations when I start something.  I can always adjust them along the way, but it helps me frame up a project and what I need to do to accomplish it.

My expectations are:

  • It will focus me on my photography and writing
  • My creativity will be nurtured and strengthened
  • To continue with the routine of working every night doing something for my creativity (for more on how a routine makes it easier to get something done, check out Gretchen Rubin’s post – Why I Try To Do Some Things Every Day, Without Exception)
Why am I sharing how I nurture my creativity?

  • To encourage my readers to nurture their own creativity, whatever it is
  • To give my readers things to consider for their own application to their creative processes
  • To practice nurturing myself with evidence of it
  • To give me a body of work for my own future reference and encouragement
Details Behind 31 Days
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I’m participating in a challenge called 31 Days:  A Writing Challenge, Every October, Every Day.  It’s an interesting idea – I choose my topic, put in a one-time link, and post every day.  The challenge is to go deeper into one topic for the  month.  As I considered whether to do this, I read over some of the bloggers who participated in 2013 and there is some incredibly good stuff out there.  The topics are all over, from cooking to faith to crafts of all kinds, and changes in home or behavior.  They all shared a desire to do something for 31 days and write about it.
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Prequel Posts
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To help get you started, here are some past posts on nurturing creativity:
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 Creativity vs. Craft

 Nurturing My Creativity. . . Not

 What Inspires Me

 Special Photo Challenge:  Inspiration

 Inspired for Creativity

Sharing a Passion For Photography

Working Back From Discouragement – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4
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Index of Posts

Day 2 – Weekly Photo Challenge:  Nighttime (Processing A Night Photo)
Day 4 – Weekly Photo Challenge:  Signs (Trying out Topaz Labs filters)
Day 12 – Foodie Tour! (in which I try blogging from my cell phone)
Day 14 – Weekly Photo Challenge – Dreamy (thoughts on being a more creative photographer)
Day 17 – Got Rust? (trying something different with my photos)
Day 21 – Baby Bump
Day 30 – Time For Tea
Day 31 – 31 Days Wrap-Up

31 Days Creativity Write 31 Days

dogear6 View All →

I am a backyard adventurer, philosopher and observer, recording my life in journals and photographs. Visit my blog at www.livingtheseasons.com.

45 Comments Leave a comment

  1. This looks like a great project, but we have vacation in the midst, the getting ready and all that, so I’m not even going to think about it. I’ll enjoy seeing what you do with it.

    • Thanks Patti. It will be interesting. My biggest challenge is not wanting to blog everyday. But there is some really good work out there from last year, so I thought I’d do it. I’m going away for a few days also and have to either write ahead or just skip a few days.

      Have fun on your trip!

  2. I can’t wait to play catch up….being more creative has been something I’ve wanted to embrace and not just “crafts”…lol…so I can’t wait to read what you’ve written.

    • I took several hundred pictures of that little spider. It didn’t move and since I haven’t seen one before, I shot away to make sure I got everything I could! And thanks for the encouragement on my quest.

  3. Writing things down does help to meet goals. I also agree that they can be adjusted. I plan to write a post soon about a goal I set and how it is about to become reality. I love that you are spending time on your photography. Have fun with the 31 days project.

    • Thanks (as always) for the encouragement on my photography and projects. I look forward to seeing your post. Over the years, you’ve shared your creative processes and time management. I always enjoy learning from you and how you get so much done!

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