Many of us, especially those who practice a creative discipline, feel more than a little ambivalent about the winter holidays. If you’re like me, you love the cornucopia of special music, art, literature and festivities that explode into prominence right after Thanksgiving. (I spend most of November waiting to find just the “right” moment to begin my holiday music listening binge.) However, even if you mostly look forward to the holidays, there are often challenges: expectations around gift-giving and family visits, a crush of obligations and extra activities (even if some of them are fun), and for some, painful memories of awful holidays past and loneliness and estrangement from one’s roots or traditions.
For creative people, these challenges can be compounded by this paradox: although creativity is our birthright, our creative flow can wax or wane depending on how frequently we practice our art(s). Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to weave holiday performances or unveilings of new holiday-themed artworks into our end-of-the-year schedule. But for those who can’t, it can feel as if we’re fighting tooth and claw for a free moment to play our instrument, do some sketching, write a few lines … and the people whom we are fighting are those we love! America’s over-commercialization of the holidays can also provide a Yuletide bummer for many of us, who prefer to express our love in ways that come directly from our own mind and hands.
It’s entirely possible to make your holidays creatively merry and bright, and it all starts with choices. It’s easy to go along with popular culture and let the holidays happen to you, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are a few tips for staying sharp, innovative and satisfied throughout the winter holiday season:
Set a conscious intention for your holiday season. Never mind what your holidays have been like in years past—what do you want to experience this year? What sort of vibe is going to work for you, given your relationships, health, energy level and current project load?
“Start by considering what kind of holidays you want this year. Think of an adjective to describe how you want to feel. Peaceful? Grateful? Connected? Make some notes about your intention.”
That’s great advice—and the first step to a creatively supercharged holiday!
Emphasize the essential aspects of whichever holiday traditions you observe in your art-making. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or just a general season of goodwill, use whatever elements of your holiday that resonate the most strongly for you as your artistic foundation. Ground yourself in that, and you may be able to see your obligations and hopes during this period in a new light.
Embed creative activity in the traditions you create with your children and intimate circle. My earliest and fondest Christmas memories are dancing around the living room to the music of the 1972 J.C. Penny Christmas album my sisters bought for my mother and the Advent home services our family would have every Sunday before Christmas, during which we would sing together, light candles and read from our church’s lectionary. Those memories say “holidays” to me more than any present I received as a child.
Are there simple, low-cost ways to ensure your family’s future holiday memories revolve creative activities? Could you plan now to lay the groundwork for home caroling concerts, zany decorations created at the kitchen table together, or fancy cookies baked from scratch and distributed to your neighbors? The bonus of trying this tip is that you may shift your family’s overall culture to one that values home-made things and experiences over pre-packaged fun.
Use holiday “down time” strategically. Most of the time, our art doesn’t benefit from attempts to be creative 24/7/365. We need time to let our subconscious ponder and play with the input it receives. Travel time during the holidays is a fantastic time to experiment with “seeding” your imagination in order to develop fruitful ideas later.
If you’re unable to practice your primary discipline on a long car trip, say, perhaps you can prepare your subconscious to incubate some ideas for upcoming projects by bringing along interesting magazines or books to read, loading your iPod playlist with inspiring music, or making some stops (planned or spontaneous) along the way at culturally engaging places—or even just a restaurant with cool art on the walls!
Find tiny slices of time to advance your creativity. Knowing how to utilize “found time” during holiday trips or celebrations can help you maintain a connection to your art-making projects. Expect that there will be at least a few minutes during any gathering or vacation that will hold creative promise. Get ready for them by bringing along the tools of your art to make the most of them when they happen.
If the rest of the family is going to see some attraction you’re not crazy about, how about staying behind for some practice? If you brought your painting supplies along anyway, why not help a few cousins or aunties explore their hidden desires to make art by encouraging a group watercoloring party-within-a-party? The key to this tip is preparation, and attitude—your host/guests will be more likely to accommodate your choices if you present them in a light, upbeat manner and something that will enrich the overall atmosphere at the event.
When in doubt, improvise. The free play and imaginative re-combination that characterizes improvisational activity definitely strengthens your creative muscles. Sharpening your creative edge during the holidays may be as simple as looking for fresh ways to combine activities and schedules with others for mutual enjoyment, seizing spontaneous opportunities to have healthful, homespun fun, or reconstructing a family tradition after a major change in clan composition (after a death or divorce, for example). Looking at your holiday schedule through this lens may further the idea that creativity is a part of everyday life, and art-making is not confined to hours spent in the studio, on the dance floor, or in front of the crowd.
How do you keep your creative edge during the holidays? Send me an e-mail at lizmassey68@hotmail.com and let us know!
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