Being one half of Lully Selb can get very pressurizing, as I handle the business side of things as well as keeping the brand as creative as possible. It is also a very big myth that creativity is only about art, music and dance. To me, in today's challenging times, being creative is a survival skill. To run a business, manage a household, work in an organisation; creativity is needed. So what is creativity? My definition is to think out of the box and seeing things in a fresh perspective, not just splattering paints or doing a new dance movement.
The next question is how can one be creative? Or for me - stay creative? There are many ways out there, here's one infographic that sums it up.
However, I always believe in the power of paper and pen (point2). Journaling is something I try to consistently do, if not everyday, at least once a week. If you're not someone who draws, free writing is also a form of keeping your creativity alive.
I like to randomly draw things or sometimes just open a magazine and draw what I see. I have so many notebooks and sketchbooks and from time to time, I love looking back at them, sometimes an idea just pops up! Here are some from many years back.
Funny how I see many little doodles around my to-do-lists. Its like a therapeutic 10 mins before I actually get down to doing my tasks.
Another cool social media creative movement that you can consider is Inktober. It’s a month where you challenge yourself to one inking work per day. It doesn’t have to be big, it can also be thumbnail sizes. There is usually a theme to follow but you're free to do what you want. I tried doing it for 2 years and it’s really hard to consistently do it everyday. I was pregnant with my first and wanted to do alphabets with positive affirmations hoping to one day put up on a wall for her. I didn't complete to Z and I'm hoping to do so this October. Here's what I have so far.
If you're up for a creative challenge, check out @inktober and join the movement. One sketch a day, upload on IG and tag them=)
I recently got this book when I was in New Zealand and I really cannot wait to start on it. Its called Hirameki which means Draw what you see in Japanese. I love the process of how it forces you to really think out of the box and let your imagination go wild. Basically, the book is filled with blobs of colours and you are supposed to draw what you see. Hang on, there are also different steps and levels ( up to step 10 ).
Lastly, I also try to keep journaling when I travel. During my recent trip to Turkey, I wanted to do 1 per day, but of course with a toddler in hand, thats not possible. 2 out of 10 was what I managed to do=(
I hope you get inspired by my humble journaling coz honestly it’s really fun, rewarding and a nice ME time to just get into the zone and wander off with your pen and paper. My kind of self-care!
The next time you find yourself scrolling through your social media for more than 10 mins, stop, grab your paper and pen something down instead! Even when I'm writing this blogpost, I suddenly have this idea of having a little session where you bring your journal for the year and share with each other. Who knows more ideas can come out of it!
Now I can’t wait to start my Hirameki and some other books I got as gifts.
Love,
Selb
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