OHH heyyyy there friend. Fancy meeting you here.

If you clicked on this title it tells me three things about you:

1. You’ve got some creativity brewing in you, and you’re just ITCHING to get it out.

2. You’re ready to live your BEST creative life.

3. You know that out best life is lived by GRACE.

Oh look at that! We have 3 things in common already!

In this part 1 of 3 part blog series, I’m sharing my grace-based guide to living your best creative life, and how that creative life cares for your SOUL so well and so deeply. Let’s dive in to the first — MINDSET.

THE THREE FEARS KEEPING YOU FROM OWNING YOUR CREATIVITY

Okay friend in this first part of this series, we’re diving deep into the three fears keeping you from owning your creativity. And let me tell you — you’re not alone in these because I’ve suffered from them too! Don’t fret — I’ve got you.

Imposter Syndrome

Oh here’s the thing — anyone who says they’ve NEVER suffered from imposter syndrome is lying. Even the most narcissistic of people wonder about their abilities from time to time, even if they shove it down deeper than that set of VHS tapes you never got rid of…

We all suffer from imposter syndrome so let’s own it and CHAT ABOUT IT. When we talk about it, it doesn’t hold the same power over us.

What is imposter syndrome?

Imposter syndrome is basically this — believing you are not good enough and will never measure up to X (insert the name of whoever you look up to here).

Now, having those beliefs isn’t necessarily a bad thing — and I’m going to tell you WHY it’s not horrible and how you can make it part of living your best creative life.

Imposter syndrome sucks — that’s true. BUT — it’s actually such a gift of grace from God and helps us have real humility. It’s okay to know you’re not the best. And spoiler alert? There will ALWAYS be someone better and someone worse. The point I’m making here is this:

Simply having “imposter syndrome” doesn’t mean you’re doomed. Use it to your advantage to remember to give YOURSELF grace, give your life grace, give your house grace — sometimes I’m guilty of giving my homemaking ability a little too much grace and I’m sure when my husband reads this he’ll chuckle, but I digress… — you’re doing a great job by the way… Can you see me waving at you and cheering you on through the screen?!

And along with that? When we know and own that we’re not perfect and will never be, we have so much more grace for others.

Thinking “it’s just too hard”

Oh goodness gracious if I had a dime for every time someone said “oh I’d love to paint, but it’s just too hard” — ya’ll I’d have a lot of dimes. Pretty much every time I post a painting video on Instagram I get that comment.

And here’s the thing — it is hard. It’s a skill that I’ve honed after years of learning multiple mediums and thousands of hours practicing and critiquing. It’s hard — I’ll give you that.

…

But the thing that most people think when they say that is that IT’S IMPOSSIBLE… which I’m calling an audible on because that’s just not true.

Now, you don’t *have* to paint to live your best creative life. BUT — so often I think we think of the simple act of creativity as being ~just too hard~… when in reality it’s just living a normal life that benefits your soul.

CREATIVITY can shine in so many ways.

Maybe you have creative systems that keep your house clean *EVERY SINGLE DAY* (and if that’s you will you pretty please with sugar on top teach me your ways?!)…

Maybe you create elegant or thoughtful meals for your family (hey, they don’t have to be elegant either—using what you have stocked up in your pantry, fridge, and freezer, or using leftovers to make something new is one of my FAVORITE ways to use my creativity)…

Tap here to learn about Shelf-tember and how it will *change your life*

^NOT an affiliate link BTW, just something I do myself and I believe in.

Bottom line here? Living a creative life is not too hard. It may take some thinking on your part to figure out what you’re *already* doing that’s creative, but I’d LOVE to hear it. Head over to Instagram and send me a DM — let’s chat about living your best creative life. I can’t WAIT to cheer you on.

This fear is also full of grace BECAUSE we know our time is limited. It’s finite and there’s only 1400 minutes in a day. Finding ways that you’re ALREADY BEING CREATIVE is another amazing way to give yourself grace. Grace is good for your soul, friend.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

Living Overwhelmed

The third fear holding you back from living your best creative life? That you’re already too overwhelmed and stressed out to add anything new or try anything new.

Sometimes friend, this is the hardest fear to overcome — but it’s also one of the greatest ones to understand.

We are *constantly* bombarded with content — our homes, out mailboxes, the books, magazines, news outlets — there’s ALWAYS more information coming at us.

You know what? I’m gonna drop a truth bomb here:

THE NOISY WORLD DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOUR LEVEL OF OVERWHELM OR ABOUT YOUR CREATIVE LIFE.

BOOM.

But you know what? As I’ve been walking this journey with anxiety I’ve realized something (that I’m still very much working on)…

SO MUCH of the overwhelm I feel in my own life that I feel like keeps me from being creative ACTUALLY has a hand in my creativity.

The overwhelm can sometimes be a gift (emphasis on the word sometimes). BUT it’s also something I bring on myself.

Makes me wonder WHYYY do I do this to myself?! Well — here’s what you can do. Let go of some things. Just go straight up Elsa on it and LET IT GO. It won’t hold you back anymore.

And here’s the other part of that — if you’re an adult, you’re probably overwhelmed. If you’re a student, you’re probably overwhelmed. There’s TONS of stuff going on in our lives that can make us go BLARGGGHHH — it’s what we do with that overwhelm that makes all the difference in us living our best creative life.

When you feel overwhelmed, JOURNAL, PAINT, COOK, BAKE — do whatever it is that helps you take a break. Go take a walk. Go take a shower. Again, give yourself GRACE — and when you do, you’ll find that not only is the overwhelm not as terrible, but because you’re using your creative gifts, you’re not feeling so overwhelmed.

PS — I’ve got some AWESOME journals in the shop made especially for getting those thoughts on paper and ditching the overwhelm for a better YOU.

So which came first, the chicken or the egg? Well, in my opinion it doesn’t really matter.

Be Creative → Feel Less Overwhelmed → Continue Creativity → Be Less Overwhelmed…

Holy shamoles — we went through a LOT of info.

So, what are the three fears holding you back? Imposter syndrome, time, and overwhelm. But here’s the thing, by GRACE, each of those *fears* can be used to live your best creative life.

Give yourself grace, friend. You’ve got this.

If you want to know more about painting as self-care (and living your best creative life?!) Click the button below to grab your Ultimate Watercolor Supply List Freebie.