A reminder of the joys of being creatively all-in

I spent last weekend in the mountains in Tahoe – skiing in the beautiful sunshine, strolling along the lake set against snow peaked mountains, and cuddling around the fire playing games with my family. I really needed the getaway! I had been knee deep in party planning for my mom’s 70^th birthday the 2 weeks prior. I’d been up until 3am, making lists, buying props and costumes for a silent film we made, coordinating with relatives for birthday messages & photos – it was a full-on project for me that took every ounce of my extra time!

But guess what, I loved it! Putting our all into a creative endeavor can fuel a part of our heart and spirit in a way that makes us feel so energetic and purposeful.

How do you maintain balance? Sometimes we can maintain balance on a daily basis – between work, leisure, social connections and self-care. But what I was reminded of these last few weeks, is how balance can also span over a few weeks’ time. I gave my all to the party planning, even sacrificing my time for other things, then enjoyed 4 straight days of time for me and quality time with my family in Tahoe. This is balance too – and sometimes allows a deeper diving into a creative endeavor.

Learning from being creatively all-in Planning my mom’s birthday party wasn’t how I’d thought I’d spend my January – I had really wanted to start my year off refining and putting in place my vision for the year. But, as most always, what seemed like a diversion from my path turned out to provide me some much needed creative energy and inspiration.

Celebrating my mom – the woman who has been my constant cheerleader and taught me to be my most independent, strong self, thanks to her constant support – was something I couldn’t do in any “good enough” way. For her, I had to be all in. This was my chance to show my mom just how much I love her, after all. There’s not much I can justify in doing this in any “good enough” way.

And what did this remind me? Being all in – not just simply doing things “good enough” – felt GREAT. To fully dive into my creative endeavors, rather than simply do just a little here and there, was exactly what I needed to remind myself how much I love creative projects.

So much of what we do involves a confining relationship with boundaries and balance. Putting boundaries on your time and effort is often healthy. It helps us keep everything in the boxes they are meant to be – so we can ensure true balance with time for our family, and with our work, ensure our income is appropriately connected to our time invested.

But, boundaries can also feel confining. They can stifle the creative process. And if I’m honest with myself, being creatively all-in with my mom’s party planning reminded me how much I haven’t been doing that with other creative endeavors. I’m realizing how much I haven’t been trusting my own work, and my own creativity, because I was shorting the energy I was putting into each project. Not because I didn’t care, but because I was spreading myself too thin, not wanting to get too involved in any one thing – trying to be practical, as it may.

As much as other people have been telling me my work was great, I didn’t feel it from the inside. And we all know, believing in our own work is more important than anything. For that, we must know we gave it our creative all.

It’s fully giving ourselves to the creative process that allows our true creative genius to come out. The part that motivates us, wakes us up on the morning, and excites us.

For my mom’s birthday, allowing myself to give my all to the creative process turned into so much fun! I asked family members to send in videos and messages and compiled a 15-minute video with photos and memories of my mom’s 70 years. I created a piece of art for guests to write what they loved about my mom. I decided on a 1920s theme for the party and decorated tables, centerpieces, balloons and photos with pearls, feathers and gold decor. And, my most favorite creative vision for the party came true – We wrote a script for, filmed, provided props and costumes for, and produced – at the party – a silent film. All the guests got to take part in it, and it turned out amazing!! (You can watch the silent film here).