5 Reasons Why I Create

There are about a thousand and two ways to create and be creative. Sometimes it takes time to find the one or two ways that fill our niche and help us to be the creative people we truly are. As kids, coloring or playing dress up may have fulfilled that. But as adults, we have many more choices.

While the journey to find our way to create is important, it is also important to focus on why we create. Here are my 5 reasons why I create.

1. I create to relieve stress.

Some of you may have better stress outlets than by using your inner crafty person, but my most effective means of relieving stress is by creating. In one of my education classes, we were discussing art curriculum. The teacher brought in at least twenty different art materials that she has used in classrooms. I spent nearly the entire night at the water coloring station. I felt so free by the end of class – it has been one of my favorite classes this semester for this reason.

2. I create to express myself.

It is so important to me to get my thoughts out in this world. I have done this through a variety of ways. My main venues of creativity are through writing, lettering, and photography. My writing is done through this blog. Here I share with you my other means of creativity, my random recipes, and insights to my life. My lettering is still a work in progress. I have talked about it briefly in a previous post and on Instagram but have not touched on it as much as I would like to. I am hoping this changes soon though! My photography has been doing wonderfully. You can stay updated on my newest projects on my photography page or by liking Elisebeth Anne Photography on Facebook. I am hoping to get a new website up and going by the end of the year so I will keep you all in the loop on that.

3. I create to tell a story.

I hope it is obvious that my means of creativity are there to let others see into my life and experiences, even if I haven’t fully polished all of my skills yet. My main goal in my creations is to tell a story. My most recent photos were from a benefit concert in Green Bay and I could not be happier. They so strongly convey the love of music by the subjects and how they want to pass that to the youth in Green Bay. I am yearning to keep these stories evident in all of my work.

4. I create to meditate.

I don’t know about you, but I often find myself busy and have so much on my mind. I think that taking the time to create, even something small, allows you to just be. Taking that time can be a form of meditation. When I am working on lettering, I never find my mind wandering to the other tasks I have. When I am on a photoshoot, I don’t have time to concentrate on what I have to do later in the day. If I am creating, I am in the moment,

5. I create to create.

This may sound kind of redundant, but sometimes you just need to let those creative energies out! Creativity stops if you do not allow it to be present. I have found that I need to give myself time to create or I lose the creative mentality. This is something I am continuously striving to find time for.

What are your reasons for creating? I would love to hear in the comments below.
XO Elisebeth

Time

I am the queen of overcommitment. I hate saying “no” to things and love being involved. I do not enjoy being bored or sitting around and having nothing to do, why else would I run two blogs? 😉

However, sometimes this backfires on me. This past year I was working two part time jobs, attending school full time, and planning a wedding. I realized how negatively it was impacting my relationships with friends and my fiance, how it disrupted my mood, and how I was having a rough time with sleep, time management, and stress. I stopped working one of my jobs, the one that was causing the most stress, even though I was getting a lot of good experience from it. I knew I needed to have something removed so I could have time to breath.

My wedding planning has luckily not been a huge place of stress. Don’t get me wrong, I do get frustrated over stuff often, you can ask Trevor. But it is not nearly as negatively stressful as I would have anticipated. I will admit that I am excited for the planning to be over though. We’re under the four month mark!

Stress is not a bad thing. You need stress. The key component though, is how you handle stress. I am working at becoming better at stress management, but I also know it is important for me to leave wiggle room. If I push myself too far, old habits could pop up and set me back farther. Thankfully I have been able to stay on track and notice “red flags” as they pop up and take care of them soon rather than later.

More importantly, I have been leaving time for me. I have time for myself to do things. Lately, that has meant time to read my Bible more, to read other books for fun, to work on my Doctor Who puzzle (which I finally finished), to watch Netflix, to spend time with my fiance and not be stressed. It has been wonderful to have this time where I am not constantly dwelling on what needs to get done. I am more appreciative of time in general now.