Creative Rest

Happy Sunday everyone!

It's been a busy few days here.  I've been loving being at home and not working the past few days (even though I love my job). I think the days off seem much sweeter now.   

We spent my first day off by eating lunch in town, getting a drink from Starbucks and taking a little drive. We stopped off at a plant nursery, walked around a bit, but didn't buy anything. It was nice to get out and just have the freedom of time.

On Friday we took donuts to our kids, Collin and Morgan, to celebrate Collin's 26th birthday. I can't believe my "baby" is 26! We got lots of playtime with Asa and cuddles with baby Sunday. That made our day. 

Saturday our oldest son Ted came over with all my sweet girls, to work on his car with David. While the men were working in the garage, I fixed lunch and a batch of cookies to feed everyone. Afterwards, the girls and I played games. Emmy wanted to work on a latch hook rug I started, while Addie and Ella watched a movie and had snacks on the couch. It was a slow-paced day and so enjoyable to have them all here. 

Speaking of slow-paced days...

I haven't talked about this in a while, but creative rest is a real thing and I wanted to mention it for you, and  as a reminder to myself. 

So many times we think of rest as plopping down in front of the tv and just zoning out. Or maybe it's sitting in a chair with a good book, for some. 

But creative rest is different. 

It's doing something that feeds your soul. It's feeding that creative part of you that is designed after our Heavenly Father, the ultimate creator. 

For me, creative rest is working with paper - whether creating a journal with scrapbook paper and stickers, combined with words that touch the heart, or cutting things out of magazines and writing stories to go along with the picture. 

This week I opened one of my Daphne's Diary magazines and started working on an Easter craft tucked inside the Easter edition. 

I made myself some hot tea in my cute cottage tea cup. I turned some soft music on, gathered my supplies at the table and just sat for an hour, cutting out Easter bunnies, reading stories and doing some of the activities in the magazine. 

There's something about being creative that nurtures the inside of us, in ways that nothing else can. And the beauty of creativity is that it's different for everyone. 

Some feed their souls by baking and being creative in the kitchen. Some knit, crochet, paint, draw, do puzzles, crafts, organize, design, and on and on it goes. There are so many ways to feed that creative nature within us and it's important to do so.

Being creative and doing it in a non-hurried way, makes us slow down and focus on the task at hand, which takes our minds off the work that waits for us around every corner. Which by the way, will still be there when you get done. But it gives us a break mentally and feeds us in a different way.

The times in life (or different seasons) when I've neglected creative rest, I can feel myself being tense and always in work mode. Sometimes I recognize (and other times I don't), that I haven't allowed myself to just sit and create something, just for fun. 

It seems like we always have something that needs doing, right? Whether it's kids, the housework, outside jobs or other responsibilities. The work never ends. Which is exactly why we need to add in time to feed our souls. Even if you only have 30 minutes to yourself, to create something, that will add up over the days and you will begin to feel the stress dissipate with each session. 

I want to add here that creative rest is different than "self-care." Honestly, I have lots of opinions about self care, but I won't get into that here. But, as I already mentioned, being creative feeds us in a different way. 

We are created in the image of our Creator, who was and still is, the most gifted creator that's ever existed. If that is so, then wouldn't it make sense that being creative is vital to our well-being? 

I hope you try some creative rest this week. Make a note about how you feel on the days that you take time to create and use that part of you that connects to our Creator. I hope you feel rested in ways that truly feed your soul.

I'm reminding myself of this, as well.

Have a great week everyone!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!