Quieting The Creative Mind

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I wonder if you feel the same as me? I go through phases where I mull over the same creative idea again and again, refining it, researching it, exploring its potential. And then there are the phases where the idea I'm working on seems to fade ever so slightly into the background while new ideas sing and dance around me, demanding attention. Giddy, excitable, running around like they've had too much sugar and totally distracting me.

An old friend once told me to do one thing at a time. He was right. He could see I would jump from idea to idea and he wanted me to achieve my dreams. This simple piece of advice led me to focus on Angel's Great Escape, which became my first picture book and then I concentrated on An Amazing Alphabet of Cake until it was published. So what do I do when new ideas pop up and tap me on the shoulder while I'm trying to complete a project? I don't want to ignore them as they may be worth exploring. So I capture them, a bit like a genie in a bottle that I know I can release later. I make notes, a lot of them! I'll sit quietly with a cup of coffee and give myself 20 or 30 minutes with the ideas, free writing anything that comes into my mind. It quietens my thoughts a bit, allows me to concentrate and reassures me that the idea isn't lost but rather quietly being worked on by my subconscious waiting until I'm ready to turn the volume up back up.

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A Little Bit Of Coffee & Calm

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I was rushing around one day last week, trying to run errands before I was due to head out of London. I decided to reprioritise and carved out a much needed hour for myself to sit with a coffee and read a magazine before I got on the train. It's so important to take time for yourself, to stop ticking boxes and breathe for a moment. I read a lovely article in SImple Things magazine (my favourite!) about how to find calm. Why not get yourself a coffee too and have a read by clicking here : )