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I was talking to a mom-friend of mine who was saying that her life had become so busy!  She has two young daughters and wrangling them was becoming more and more stressful.  There are breakfasts that need to be finished, teeth that need to be brushed, clothes that need to be changed, and let’s get in the car because we’re late!  What she told me was “I just feel like I’m not giving them any time for wonder, you know?” 

It’s so funny because with kids they’re like, mom, look at that cloud!  Look at this rock!  So I said, here’s the solution, you have to schedule in 5 minutes for wonder. Tell you kids you’ve got 5 minutes for wonder! GO!  Hurry UP! Enjoy something!  Imagine something!  Be curious about something!  The clock is ticking! 3 minutes left!  Go, go go! The truth is, you wouldn’t do this because it’s not going to work.

The irony is that I TOTALLY do this to my creativity.  I finally carve out an hour or so in the studio and I tell my creativity, GO.  HURRY UP.  THINK OF SOMETHING. Be brilliant and original and amazing.  The clock is ticking.  It’s not necessarily a super strategy, so today I want to talk about the value of margin in your time if you want to develop your creative thinking. 

So what do I mean when I say margin for creative thinking?  Margin is the space around something.  What I’ve discovered is that I have a horrible habit of not designing my day with any margin.  While that might be okay for an “adulting” schedule of getting groceries, visiting the dentist, paying bills, and going the gym, but it leaves no time for admiring the cloud or the rock.  It’s admiring the cloud and the rock that actually provide fodder for creative thinking. 

I have this theory that creativity energy is finite and everyone gets so many minutes a day.  Creativity may multiply in the right conditions, not too hot, not too cold, and not too scheduled.  We can burn up our creative thinking on non-art related problem solving, which is not a bad thing, because creativity belongs everywhere, in every category of our lives.  However, speaking for myself, I don’t allow for blank time, time for just thinking, for a stroll in the woods, for sitting at a coffee shop reading, for having a lunch with an old friend. It’s the time that doesn’t “accomplish” something, that is absolutely essential for creative development. 

I’m a full time artist and when I have time in the studio, it tends to be very goal directed.  I am working on a body of work that I will sell.  I am working on developing a digital course so I can teach something. Though this high level, focused and disciplined approach is a necessary component of a successful studio practice, it’s not the highest level thinking. 

The highest level creative thinking is free range.  Blank time.  Unencumbered by obligation. Unpressured by the requirement of exhibition and public view.  Instagram I’m looking at you.  Private.  Personal.  Some ideas may emerge, and they may not. The amazing paradox is that though this kind of time can feel unproductive, it is absolute essential to the creative practice, and maybe the MOST important kind of work. 

What do you think about this?  Do you have ”blank time” in your studio practice?  What does it look like?  Do you need more?  I’ll meet you in the comments, and as ever, if you enjoy The Josie Show, a like,  a comment, a follow or a review is hugely helpful!

PS. If you enjoy the topic of art business and you want to learn the steps I took from going from a artist/waitress to a full time artist with a thriving art studio, I wrote a guide for your! It’s called The Quick Start Guide to Selling Your Art.  You can download it for free at https://www.josielewis.com/quickstart