Creative Magic happens in just 5 minutes

For most of my adult life, I haven't been able to devote large chunks of time to my art. I was restricted by my life circumstances and struggled to develop a regular creative practice. I as working full-time in an office job, had young children to care for, was caring for my disabled and often sick child, pursued a university degree with young children, and tried to navigate the needs of others and my own needs. It was a lot. I struggled to manage it all and felt like a complete failure in so many ways. Art and creativity is the lens through which I made sense of the world and I couldn’t even find time to make any art. If I did manage to make art, it was often objectively not very good.

I saw other people online and in real life, who seemed to have it all figured out. I could barely find time to have a shower or make it to the end of the day without yelling at my kids. Or crying. Other people seemed to have cracked the code of life. They were getting married, had great jobs, were making amazing art and taking immaculate flat lays on Instagram. On one level I knew that this wasn’t the whole truth. I had been married and how it looked to others was not the sad, lonely, isolating experience it was for me to be in that marriage. 

I started to realise that there was just no way for me to write all day or paint for hours. It wasn’t possible for me. I didn’t have the time, energy or money for the supplies. I made my peace with the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to write a novel over a few months, or work on my painting skills at the level that someone who had the time and energy to devote to it more fully could. I had other things that needed to be worked around. I had to let go of the idea that I could develop a full time art practice in amongst the life restrictions I had to navigate daily. 

I objectively had a lot on my plate. But my soul still cried out to create. Even if my poems were bad. My art amateur. My writing disjointed and without clear direction. I needed some creativity in my life to sustain me during this time where my needs and thoughts often had to come last. 

Once I acknowledged that I needed more creativity in my life, I started thinking about my time differently. I let go of this idea of art-making how other people did it, or as separate from my day-to-day life. I considered all those little moments in my life where a small window of creativity could grow. I decided that my art didn’t need to be good, or amazingly complex. I took the pressure off myself to try to create a masterpiece. I was making something for me. Self-care in the truest sense.

I aimed to grab little windows of space and time where I could. Jotting down an idea on the back of an envelope whilst cooking dinner. Waking up earlier to write my morning pages (three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing from Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way'.) Getting a cheap art journal and slowly drawing ideas in its pages. Using my kids art supplies. Painting with them.

I shifted my thinking from creating large works of art, exploring complex ideas, or finding whole days to devote to an art practice. Turning up for five minutes to make something was my goal. My focus was small pockets of time as frequently as I could. And I became so much more productive. I aimed for something creative most days. There were many days when my morning pages were the only creative thing I managed. Turning up to write most mornings, to allow myself to have a voice and write about the things important to me, my hopes, dreams, fears and all those thoughts that came up. This grounded me in the things that I value and the dreams I have that kept coming back to me. 

It was true that for a very long time those little five minute pockets of time to create something, didn’t result in any masterpieces. Or any objectively good art. It was many small canvases with swirls of colour. Or half written poems in the corner of art journals. Messy sketches of ideas on scraps of paper. Half-written blog posts forgotten in notebooks. Each tiny window of time making something creative fed my soul. It sustained me through very difficult times, when I was extremely isolated and the future felt uncertain and scary. 

Something happened every time I turned up for myself in those five minutes, next time was easier. Without realising it, I was building a creative muscle that has carried me through. I started to notice that there were more and more moments for creativity in my day. Because I was paying attention for those moments when dinner was cooking or I was watching a cartoon with my toddlers, or everyone had fallen asleep early. I started to trust my creative muscle more, I knew that if I had five minutes to make something, if I sat down, I would have something to say. I started to do little creative challenges. Small ones, and then they built to longer ones like the 100 day project. 

Over time, those five minute windows of time added up. My skills improved. My creative voice developed and I realised I had something to say. By making my goal the smallest it could be - just make something in the five minutes while the jug is boiling or dinner is cooking, my bigger goal of developing a creative practice just happened. 

So today, set yourself a goal to make something in five minutes. It doesn’t need to be big or complex. It’s about learning that art-making happens in the small gaps of our day-to-day lives just as much as it does on an artist retreat in a country cottage. Set yourself five minutes to make some art. To fill up a page with writing, a story, a song or a poem. Draw something. Sketch something you see. Sketch out art you want to make or dreams you have. Just grab that small window of magical creating time. 

*this is an excerpt from a longer form piece of writing I am currently working on. A month long creative journal.