As I have begun to dig out the creativity I had buried within myself for so long, I continue to feel a sense of renewal every time I pick up my art journal and begin to put pencil, paint, and pastel to paper. It’s like something that was trapped inside of me is coming out to play. There is a door that has been opened for me again as I give myself permission to play. Permission to let go of what is pressuring me from the outside and listen to the voice that pressures me from the inside saying, “Can we play, please?” and “Can we take a break and spend some time together?” That is my inner child talking. We all have one. It’s the voice that reminds us that we take life too seriously and need to find more time and space to play. To be a child again among all of the adult responsibilities.

Creating can be playful. It can be a time to be a child who loves to color (inside OR outside the lines!), who loves to throw paint at a piece of paper or canvas, who likes to sit and write a funny story, who gets excited when you tear up paper and add it to a collage that may not make any sense to anyone but you, and who just loves to see what images appear when you make random scribble marks all over a page. Simple play.

Take some time to create like a child today. Let that little you explore and discover again.

The image I share here is from the early days of my art journal when I was just starting to dig out my creativity and discover my unique creative style again. It is super simple and was me expressing my need to integrate more playtime into my life. This is a note I wrote on the back of the page, “wanting to find more opportunities to bring play into my life to feel that sense of freedom, fun, and letting go.” I used oil pastels and intuitively made scribble marks on the page just to see what would transpire. The scribbling marks definitely brought out the child in me again!