Are You Courting Your Creative Self This Valentine’s Day?

Posted by: Michele Tracy Berger on: February 14, 2023

• In: creative writing | creativity | writing
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How come pleasure never makes it on to…a dutiful list of dos and don’ts?
Doesn’t joy also get soft and flabby if you neglect to exercise it?

Ellen Goodman

It’s Valentine’s Day (in the U.S.)!

Many people are thinking about love in its various forms.

I’m thinking about your love relationship with your creative life. 

When was the last time you wooed your creative self?

Do I hear crickets in the background?

It’s mid-February and if you’re like me, you’ve experienced one or more of the following:

– the thrill of holiday overindulging has subsided (but the pounds still linger), leaving you with a general malaise.

–you can’t find the journal where you carefully scripted out New Year’s intentions.

–you’ve had to deal with an unexpected computer breakdown, home repair(s), lingering cold, sick child, etc.

So, for most of us, we’re back to reacting to the most immediate to-dos on our very long list.

As creative folk, sometimes we spend a lot of time focused on what we’d like to have more of in our lives: time, money, recognition, etc. A bit of griping and wishing is fine, but ultimately that kind of energy doesn’t get us in the mood to WOO anything (or anyone). By starting off with feelings of love and friendship for our long term creative projects, we may just find that we can muster up the energy to find out what we actually want to do next and how to get support for it.

Just like any other relationship that we value, we must make time for our creativity. And, just like any other relationship, feelings of pleasure, kindness and affection make us and others feel good. I suggest taking some time this Valentine’s Day to court your creative life. Is there a project that you need to seduce? Can you make time for a date with your creative work today or later this week? Have you told your creative self how much you value it?

Writing prompt: Try writing a love letter to your creative self or project. Extoll its virtues, ruminate on how it makes you feel (when the relationship is going well), and dream about the possibilities of love rekindled. Decorate the letter if you like and put in a place that you can see it and feel inspired when necessary.

Photo credit: Getty Images

P.S. Want more innovative ways to keep connected to your creative self during difficult times? Check out my free guide here

Tags: creative, creative writing, creativity, fiction, fiction writing, goals, inspiration, memoir, memoir writing, novel writing, the writing life, writers, writing, writing exercises, writing prompts