Artist date #3
Yes, you're also an artist. Here's why.
First things first. You might be thinking to yourself, wondering, “Am I an artist?” Maybe, like me, you’ve narrowly defined making art to something like painting, composing, or throwing pottery. Maybe that thing you love doing doesn’t feel good enough to be called art.
Perhaps, you’ve limited creativity to certain activities rather than believing that the very essence of your life is a unique masterpiece.
Let’s be clear. Your life is your art and you are the artist.
The way you set the table. The colors you choose to decorate your house with. The clothes you wear, how you cut your hair. Your voice, vocabulary, the shape of your body, and how you like your coffee. It’s all creative. It’s all art.
“No matter what your age or your life path, whether making art is your career or your hobby or your dream, it is not too late or too egotistical or too selfish or too silly to work on your creativity.”
-Julia Cameron
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way.
I have a confession to make. I used to think that just because I couldn’t draw, I wasn’t creative. I told people this very thing and really believed it. In my mind, I went back to that one time I accidentally drew a bear with six legs or the time I made a four-year-old cry because he asked me to draw him a deer and my version was…less than deer-like.
Despite the fact that I loved and was even obsessed with the creative endeavors of others, constantly listening to music, reading books, and going to museums, I put myself in an entirely different category.
So to say that reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way was a revelation is an understatement. Already a big journaler (I have notebooks of journal entries from the time I was in 5th grade), I quickly took to morning pages which is one of the pillars of her book (three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing, every day, before anything else).
That was the easy part.
Her other pillar of an artist’s recovery (or in my case, discovery) is to go on an “artist date” once a week. By yourself. This is meant to re-fill the well of inspiration, one of the purposes of writing these letters to you. For how can artists (that’s all of us, remember?) create without feeding our soul with beauty and new experiences?
These dates are meant to be playful, fun, carefree. But for me, it felt like drudgery. I wasn’t sure I knew how to have fun. Or how to do something because I wanted to, not because I was supposed to. To be honest, I’ve even googled “how to have fun.” It’s embarrassing to admit but it’s still something I struggle with.
Sharing these artist dates with you I hope to 1) hold myself accountable for re-filling my creative well. 2) Encourage you to do the same. I hope you enjoy these outings and they embolden you to go on your own artist date!
A walk around Columbus Park
I was pretty grumpy before going on this date. But my husband and I found an amazing babysitter who watches Noah for a few hours three mornings a week and I promised myself I wouldn’t just use that time to clean the house. I left around 10 am, seriously tempted to go to my normal coffee shop and maybe walk around the riverfront.
But that wouldn’t really have counted as an artist date, so I decided to try the new Cafe Cà Phê, Kansas City’s first Vietnamese coffee shop in Columbus Park. I’m so glad I did.
Colorful, vibrant, the menu had so many drinks and pastries I’d never heard of. I went with the Mailman, a non-caffeinated beverage with flavors of pumpkin, vanilla and cardamom. I also picked out an ube muffin which was purple, and delicious! (I didn’t know this but ube means tuber in Tagalog. It’s a purple yam from the Philippines).
After sitting down for a bit and writing you this letter, I braved the cold and gray and went wandering, one of my favorite pastimes. For those not native to Kansas City, Columbus Park is a quiet neighborhood not far from downtown, between the Historic Northeast neighborhood (where we live) and River Market.
It’s got a unique mix of Italian and Vietnamese heritage. (For dinner, my husband and I ordered soul-warming bowls of pho from Vietnam Cafe, which I highly recommend for gloomy days).
It felt strange to be walking around in the middle of the day without “being on the way” somewhere but when I lived in Chicago during my college days, I made so many wonderful discoveries this way. Taking the El and getting off at random stops, I’d spend hours wandering, taking in all of the new sights and smells.
I think nineteen-year-old Mariah would be proud.
After sitting on the park bench for a few moments, I strolled to City Market and popped into the Chinatown Food Mart. Our neighborhood is full of Mexican grocery stores and honestly, one of my favorite ways to travel without “traveling” is going to an ethnic supermarket. It reminds me how big the world really is and I’m always amazed by how much variety of food exists.
I picked up and eventually returned several flavors of mochi, leaving without buying anything but completely enjoying the experience.
Going on this artist date didn’t totally fix my sour attitude but I did feel rejuvenated by making the effort to taste and see new things (I will definitely be going back to Cafe Cà Phê). Making time for myself and nurturing my creativity is still a muscle I’m learning to exercise but each time I do, I can feel that voice in my head telling me I’m not an artist get a little softer.
What about you?
Have you been on an artist date?
Do you like reading about these outings or have ideas for future activities/places I should try?
How are you nurturing your creativity this week?
I’d love to hear from you!
Thank you for sharing your struggle to identify as an artist. I have big imposter syndrome in this area! I love your ideas for artist dates. Maybe this week I will venture out, too. Thanks for the inspiration!