thoughts for a weekend.

A few months ago, I put together a post on "unslumping the creative slump" where I talked a bit about getting through creative block. One of the big things I mentioned was not overloading on "inspiration". Again, I love, love all of the inspiration waiting to be found right at our fingertips here on the internet. But. Sometimes you need to put down the mouse and live.

I find that the more engaged I am with living my life - building and nourishing our family, building and nourishing a meaningful relationship with my husband, and building a nourishing my creativity using real life activities, the more creative I become. And the more creative and innovative my own my work is. I don't have to copy anyone. My own creative ideas are flowing out of who I am, because I'm nourishing and taking care of her. And I am always uniquely me.

{source}

I think the same could be applied to social media in our lives. Melody Ross recently started sharing her experience of a 90 day facebook detox. I love that these media outlets give us such an opportunity to connect with others globally that have the same interests and loves that we do, but it's so easy to overload. It's such a delicate, delicate thing to balance. Inspiration, exposure, community. But when we start to sit in front of a computer too long, it can really suck the life out of us. Nothing compares to real life experiences and interactions with people face to face. And making something for yourself, rather than just looking at what others are making and saying, "What if?" 

 {source}

I definitely have times in my life when I cut off the media. I remember that not too long ago, we logged on the check email once a day - or maybe once a week! And we definitely didn't feel the need to constantly be connected to something like facebook! I usually catch up for an hour or so in the morning - while I do my blog posts, etsy shop listings, catch up on group contacts, etc. And then, just peek in a few times throughout the day. Mostly checking for messages, etc. It's so much easier to stay on top of other tasks for business, hobby, and home that way. I try so hard to stay mindful of just how much time I'm spending on each of them! And I've never played online games. That helps lots. I suppose they could be fun, but they can also be serious time suckers...

So go out this weekend and live your life. Be with family. Be with friends. Nurture the things you value the most, and guess what? You might be surprised to find the creativity fills you up and overflows. 

All images were collected from my pinterest boards. Feel free to check it out and follow for more inspiration!