A reframe for creativity ...

reframing anything creative I do as moodle - a no-pressure wander through the process

This is Debs from Take a Moodle with Me, writing about moodling and finding small pockets of time in your everyday life to connect or reconnect with yourself and others.

I am torn. On the one hand, wanting to be out and about, swimming, enjoying the early summer florals and on the other being creative, which kinda means I am indoors!

So far, being out and about is winning by a margin. We’ve had the most wonderful weather these last few days, and in England, where summer can disappear at a moment’s notice, I am making the most of it!

The creative ideas are coming thick and fast at the moment. Which is good, I hear you say. Yup, apart from the weather dilemma and what follows.

A few nights ago after a sea swim, I sat down to do some art. Mergatroid (scroll down to find out who she is) whispered “I’m crap at this”; “Why can’t I produce a spontaneous doodle?”; yada, yada.

As I sat staring at the proverbial blank page, I was comparing my stuckness to other creative moments I’ve had since I started making art and I felt disheartened and unmotivated. It was not a comfortable feeling.

But I sat there, and played, I made some “art” anyway. My kinder voice told me that not every piece has to be something I love. I can still say I’m an artist, that I made art.

That goes for writing too actually. Sometimes, writing is for dumping ideas and feelings on a page and forgetting about it; sometimes it’s for sharing; sometimes it may be for a book or a bigger project. And like myself, sometimes it can even be writing for academic purposes and publication.

There has been a whole bunch of posts and notes on Substack recently about being able to say the words “I am a writer”. Last week,

Charlene Storey

described a writer as one who takes part in the action of writing, “someone making a commitment to play with words, to craft sentences, to share ideas and stories”.

What has made me happy, (and has sent Mergatroid back to solitary confinement where she belongs), is the number of people who are sharing thoughts like this here on Substack. People like myself who are hybrids of writers, artists, photographers and more - creative souls at heart. Here are just some of the stories:

Susie Mawhinney - A hill and I

from A Hill and I and

Emily Charlotte Powell

from While I Was Drawing.

Whether it’s playing with words, playing with colour and art supplies, playing with a camera, a recipe or having a play IRL like a child, I think we get so hung up on labels, and then we start to take everything we do too seriously, And then, it’s no fun anymore. Number one culprit right here (pointing to myself).

A reframe…

Perhaps reframing anything creative I do as moodle - a no-pressure wander through the process, rather than a “I must produce something brilliant”, might help.

What resonated most with you from the post today? Do leave a comment below.
Sorry, there’s no art bit in my post today, just thoughts. Thanks for reading.

Who the bleep is Margatroid?

Let me introduce you to Mergatroid. She is the voice of my left brain, my acquired mind, the Inner Critic, my Ego if you like. She is the product of my conditioning. She judges. She interferes - incessantly! She is the one who whispers sarcasm and other terrible comments into my ear. In her own way, she is just trying to protect me from making a fool of myself!

If you’re wondering what to look at next, maybe click here:

• Introduce yourself and your favourite way to moodle, in this thread

• Find a list of all the art cards I’ve written about so far