31 Aug Make a Creativity Date with Yourself
Sometimes those creativity batteries need to be recharged and a creativity (or artist) date is a fun way to do just that. Originally coined by Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, many people working in a variety of creative endeavors use these dates to fertilize pending ideas and to generate new ones. Sometimes they are helpful just to get a break from the daily grind as well.
A creative or artist date is a commitment to yourself (Cameron recommends weekly, but do what you can) to spend time alone exploring. Whether these are new parts of your city that have intrigued you, new activities (if you work on a computer all day, a better date is spent working with your hands), listening to new types of music, seeing an odd movie, anything that is outside the “norm” for you.
An excellent idea is to give yourself an assignment with a camera. You can commit to as many photographs of the color red, the letter J, rusty cars or graffiti as you can get in a set period of time. Or grab an old stack of magazines and commit to three collages around a theme (or just in general).
Sometimes just silence is enough to get those juices flowing again. When you are a graphic designer, you tend to be on the computer and phone constantly (actually, if you work anywhere that’s likely the case). Getting into a park and experiencing a bit of silence and nature (maybe with a good old fashioned sketchbook) can be tremendously uplifting.
Regardless how you spend it, do schedule these routine appointments with yourself. You, and your clients, deserve it.