Start A Silly Little Creative Project

photo by niro9 via pixabay

Every now and again, I feel the need to start a silly little creative project. I call it silly because there should be no pressure attached to it. Some of my silly little creative projects may contain quite serious subject matter, but the point is that I’m not needing or expecting anyone to legitimize the content or quality of my work. The only intended audience is me. It’s the idea of writing without the intent of publishing, taking a picture without the intent of posting, or creating a trinket without the intent of selling it.

A couple weeks ago, my long-running Dungeons and Dragons campaign came to an end, and it left me in a melancholy mood as the end of a good thing often does. In the past, D&D has served as good inspiration for my silly little creative projects. Some of them I will end up sharing, like the fables that my character’s daughter wrote, but others, like a novelization of another campaign, are really just for me to enjoy.

Anyway, I’ve been experiencing stress from multiple project deadlines—some creative projects, but most of them not—and it made me realize that when it does come to my creative projects, I sometimes prefer having them done over actually doing them. That’s a hard pill to swallow as someone who identifies as a creative. 

So my solution is to start a silly little creative project. 

I found that this is one of the best ways for me to explore new skills and programs. It’s how I learned photoshop, graphic design, and photography. Most recently, I’ve been learning Canva. Those fables I mentioned? Well, I had a thought: wouldn’t it be cute to compile and format them in a way that looks like my character’s daughter just wrote them down? Over the past couple weeks, I edited them to more accurately represent the voice of a nine year old. I scoured through my old writing, identifying my grammar and vocabulary when I was the same age. I had an ego boost when I discovered a correctly used semi colon. I organized them all in Canva to develop a single journal, before I sourced and designed doodles to fit in the blank spaces of the pages. In the end, I had a 25-page journal filled with the creative spirit of a fictional little girl. I had so much fun creating it, as I problem-solved my way through Canva’s limitations and let my imagination guide the process. 

These silly little projects provide me immense joy and meaning. In my mind, they are easy ways for me to realign to my core values of being curious and creative without the pressure of caring too much about the end result. Sometimes, the final product isn't necessarily something I would call “good.” A couple months ago, I made some photo edits that I wasn't in love with, but that's okay because I was in love with the process of making them. I explored some options. I exercised some creativity. I learned some things about what challenges me and what I'm interested in being challenged by. In another few weeks, I'll hopefully find another silly little creative project to fuel the passion for the next serious, big creative project because the goal is not to just improve my craft, but to enjoy it as well.