How do you stay creative through the Holidays?

Happy Holidays! For many of us “creatives” , just getting ourselves through this season without cracking under the immensity of all of the creative possibilities that present themselves can be tricky.

“Art should be like a holiday: something to give a man the opportunity to see things differently and to change his point of view.” – Paul Klee

Christmas can be a time for joy and celebration, but it also tends to be a season where my painting takes a backseat. Navigating the demands of social commitments, errands, and family takes priority. And it becomes difficult to eke out even a little bit of time, let alone the energy, to be creative with my art.

For me, this used to lead to a feeling of overwhelm, followed by the dualistic sensations of guilt and frustration. An undisciplined wrestling match between my art and attention to those that I love would rage as Christmas drew near. Painting regularly triumphed, throttling my relationships in a vicious headlock, as I threw myself into my work. Irrational and Herculean efforts followed, willing me forward to meet self-imposed deadlines before Christmas arrived. This inevitably led to a kind of lean creativity. There was a desperate aura of “lack” surrounding my pre-holiday work, and the most important people in my life were left to decorate the tree without me.

But who was I kidding?! The reality is, if it’s not done by mid-December, then it can wait until the new year. These lightless hours offer us up an opportunity to shift our artistic perspective and see things through the glow of twinkling lights. Sometimes, showing up for our art looks like a couple of pine cones discovered on a brisk walk with your estranged cousin, or half-mad kitchen experiments with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a bit of ginger.

Do you have a friend that needs a visit? Maybe a couple of kids who need to be peeled away from their iPads? Is there a version of Santa Clause that still makes things by hand?

How does your artistic perspective shift during the holidays?

What things do you notice and how can you see them in a new light?