Make Space for Your Artist

there's more room in your life than you may think!

How much space does your artist have in relation to your other commitments? 

Committing to your artist means intentionally making space for them. 

What does it mean to dedicate space to your artist? We can mean physical space or time. Then there’s mental space. 

We often conflate time and space when talking about our creativity. We think if we had more time, we would make space for our artist. But I believe all we have is time, and that even the busiest person can make room for their artist. 

Why we don’t make space

I won’t get into all the reasons we hide behind our time excuse, but I will share a few here. I believe it’s not lack of time that’s in our way but these things: 

• We don’t have a specific project to galvanize our creative energy. 

• We let our doubts and insecurities about our talent or ideas get in the way.

• We have surrendered our entire life to the efficiency imperative, and don’t want to waste time on our creativity because we don’t know if it will ‘go anywhere.’

I’ve written an article about ways to overcome the time excuse here.  We will revisit this concept later in the program when we discuss focus. 

There are many more reasons - you probably have your own unique reasons for avoiding your artist! Let’s move on to looking at how to commit space in our lives to our artist. 

One artist’s way

We need to bring our creativity to this challenge and see how our artist finds space in our days. ​​Sam Parotto, a busy executive coach, hired me to explore her creativity. Soon she realized that everything was art. She got out of her head and let the pencil move on the page. She began doodling client notes. A miniature 1 x 1 1/2” sketchbook freed her up.

Suddenly, her creative eye opened, and she had more time in her day for her artist. Now, alongside her coaching work, Sam is the founder of Expedition Self and an online radio/TV host.

Mindmap Your Plate

I have a quick and easy way to get a sense of our commitments and how much space we have. I call it mindmapping your plate. 

Instead of listing our obligations, putting them in a visual way on a piece of paper can help us see everything in one place. One piece of paper (not a giant whiteboard or large paper) helps us feel a sense of limit that we don’t feel when we think of all the things and when we use a list format. 

For those new to mindmapping, it’s simple. You can also use software to do this. I find it easier to quickly do it on paper. If you don’t already use software, don’t spend any time finding and learning it. This will just take a few minutes to do on paper. 

Here’s an example of my mindmap for summer. I put ‘summer’ in the middle as the topic or focus. Then I put bubbles for each ‘project’ or commitment I have this summer. Another way to think of it as my priorities. For example, while my husband Steve is not a project, spending quality time with him this summer is a priority. This summer is different than most as I am traveling to California three times for a professional training and have two major projects - Your Artist Knows the Way and my novel. 

I don’t know what your experience will be when you do this, but I get a visceral sense of fullness when I look at my summer mindmap. I know I have reached a limit of space: things I can focus on and time I have to commit. 

Before summer started, I had to pull over and assess how this was all going to work. Magical thinking about how much time there is wasn’t going to do it. I want to still enjoy summer and not have face in screen the whole time. 

I realized that in order to make space, the real work was to decide what I was going to let go of. What could be taken away so I didn’t get overwhelmed? 

This was hard! The only things I could come up with to let go of were: 

• Getting library books 

• Any focus or expectation for drawing and painting

• Friend dates

• Book club 

• Business development projects

• TV/Movies at night (I am putting this on the list but I know I am still going to watch stuff!)

• Adding anything new

Making this list was HARD. I still have a bunch of books on order at the library. I still feel the urge to add more when I hear about a book I want to read. I will keep reading books¹ but won’t let my value² of curiosity/exploration have as much weight this summer. 

You can use mindmaps to work with your artist in lots of ways. Getting your ideas out of your head and onto paper in an organic way can help 

• Flesh out an idea

• Explore lots of options for your making 

• Release fears and doubts. 

Physical Space

Physical space plays a role in our artist’s well-being. Your medium of choice will dictate how much space you need and what kind. Writing is a great art form because it doesn’t need a lot of equipment or space. You may need quiet and fewer distractions. 

Some of us dream of having a separate studio or co-create space. Like the desire for unlimited time, we may not need as much space as we think. Options like: 

• Shared space

• Portable space like trays or boxes for materials

• Space used for multiple purposes.

My artist shares space with my coach. I moved into my current home in December 2019. I planned to keep my apartment for my artist studio and then, well, pandemic. I moved everything into my home studio/office. It’s more crowded than I would like, but it still gives me plenty of room for all of us to co-exist. 

Let’s look at how you have space - mental, physical, and time - for your artist. 

INVITATION 

Mindmap your plate to see what kind of space you have for your artist. See when you reach a tipping point of not having any more room for your making. 

Make a list of what can you let go of for now. ‘For now’ is the magic phrase I use with myself and my clients in this situation. Most of us don’t want to let go of anything. 

Use reflective writing to answer these questions. Set a timer for 5 minutes for each question and riff away.

Where in your world do you have physical space for your artist? 

How do you have a sense of space for your creativity and your artist? 

Write one or two sentences in your artist manual about how you will make space for your artist in the next 12 months. 

Have fun with this. Be creative and don’t limit yourself to the way it has been and the way it is. What might change when you really commit?

Affirmation: I have plenty of space for my artist, when I commit to it. 

In the comments: What came up for you when you did the mindmap of your plate?

1. I came up with the GENIUS idea of listening to audio books on my walks. We’ll see how that experiment goes!

2. We will explore our values in September.