I'm a theatrical costume designer and also do custom work. While I'm good at focusing when I have a clearly defined structure, I have a lot of difficulty without it.
I have so many ideas of things to do and techniques that I'm interested in and want to pursue for both my clients and myself, but I find that I can't seem to find the time to pursue them in a focused way unless I have specific deadlines imposed externally.
I love taking workshops and learning new things—all things seem possible to me under those circumstances—but when I get home, life takes over. Part of it is life with 3 human and 2 feline agents of chaos (also, have to admit, I'm kind of an agent of chaos myself).
Hi Sarai, I really enjoy your substack and have shared it on my own :) I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and am a visual artist, mainly painting. So my work is a creative outlet of course, but I love to cook and knit in my spare time. I'm dedicated to yoga and meditation practices, and find that they are a wonderfully effective way to practice staying present and have the side effect of influencing time perception in a nice way. I really enjoy your observations here and your message of slowing down, so thank you! _/\_
Thanks for the new introduction. It's so true that it's about making energy more than time per se, especially for those of us with "fewer spoons."
I'm Kathryn, writing full-time from San Francisco, exploring the complex relationship between art and mental health (both terms used broadly).
Writing is my most frequent creative outlet but sometimes it gets complicated because it's also my career and sometimes words don't come easily for certain things so I also crochet and collage as favorite forms of creative release.
I live in the North of England and mainly sew and draw. I would like to learn how to knit snd crochet too but I'm in no big rush.
I am being more mindful these days about how I spent my time so no matter how mundane the task I am trying to do it fully rather than while rushing or thinking about other things. Meditation has helped with this enormously.
I my name is Emy, I live in San Francisco Ca, the Tenderloin to be exact. I am a photographer and have a touch of crafting ADD. I love it all! I just got into making infographs on Canva and love it BUT my heart will always make sewing my number one creative endeavor. I love the idea of connecting with like minded folks and love making new friends!
I'm Vreni from the northwest corner of Connecticut. I live very close to the Massachussets and New York borders. I mainly sew, currently it's mostly mending and quilting, but as it warms up here, I'll be doing some dyeing, and playing more with color and embellishment. As I'm waiting for housing to open up, I am between a permanent home, so my activities are somewhat limited to what is currently in my small room. I have a large storage unit with all my fabrics and dyes and embellishment "stuff", and as the weather improves, I'l be able to move some of the dyeing activities here to the house.
My biggest challenge right now is managing my time to allow me to be creative with the projects I do have here. I'm quite sure I have a bit of ADHD that needs to be addressed, and I haven't finished organizing my space since I moved in - with more fabric and projects than fit the space I'm in. I keep saying that once everything is organized, I can start sewing, quilting, creating, etc. but I need to find ways to get some of that creating in to keep me motivated until I feel the space is perfect.
I am so glad you are encouraging and teaching sewing. It is such a useful and rewarding hobby. Although I have been sewing over 50 years, still I have learned a lot from your podcasts and posts. Now I am looking forward to this new Making Time. It sounds like something I may need.
Hello ☺️I’m Bee and I live in Finistere in Brittany, France. I’m originally from Wales in the UK but I have lived here for 25 years.
My home is in a very rural area, a National Park effectively so yes, lots of walking, watching wildlife and looking after my garden and veg plot. Favourite things to do... sewing garments ( Seamwork member) fiddle playing, photography, knitting easy socks, cooking and trying new craft things in general.
I appreciate this newsletter, Sarai! I'm Amy, in Chicago, IL, USA. During the day I run my own graphic design business, which can zap my creative energy. My outside of work creative outlets change all the time, but over the past few years sewing has risen to the top. I'm also a very enthusiastic racquet sport player: badminton whenever I can, pickleball when I can't find anyone to play badminton with ;)
I live in Roswell (a suburb north of Atlanta) with my partner and our cat.
My favorite creative outlets are:
🟢 Writing about fulfillment and financial freedom (for former overachievers)
🟢 Coding web tools
I love the feel of this Making Time publication and ideas about zooming out and slowing down. Thinking about direction instead of speed (rushing to the wrong place helps no one).
I’m Barbara. I love FPA (Fine and Performing Arts).
Whether an oversized kabuki box of makeup, paints and pastels, or just the 64 pristine box of Crayolas - love to colour and create artistic works. Want to learn to use my tablet to create art. Would love to be a rec therapist where people heal through art!🥰💫🫧and just have FUN!
Some of my current creative outlets include sewing & cross stitching.
In the past I have dabbled in lots of different arts & crafts, including different types of painting & multi-media art, knitting, crocheting. I've dabble in a lot, and mastered almost none. ;b
I'd like to learn embroidery, and get back into either knitting or crocheting on more consistent basis. But first... sewing -- getting to a point where I feel a bit more confident in those skills, especially sizing and fitting. :D
I’m Addie- we live in central Ohio- with dreams of someday owning a small hobby farm. My favorite creative outlet has to be sewing, but I wish I was more creative in the project itself- color blocking, adding small details, etc. I tend to stick to my comfort zone of following the pattern as written. This year I’d like to develop my creativity more- get back to drawing, maybe work on journaling, and see if that helps me slow down, and delve into the art form rather than just the making. Thank you for your writings Sarai! They bring a level of peace and calm to my often anxious brain!
I'm Liliana, I live in Vienna, Austria and I work as a costume assistant for the opera. I mainly sew things for myself (my job is not very hands-on), I started knitting last year and I want to get back into drawing. I also love being outdoors and want to learn more about herbalism.
I think to get anything creative done, I need three things: Energy, motivation and time. It's surprisingly hard to have all three at the same time! This year, I'm trying to cultivate more creative routines, so that things become a habit...
I’m Jenni, a native New Yorker living in Fargo, ND (I do not own a wood chipper, but I do know how to curl!). By day, I’m a biologist, and by night and weekend, I bake (and sew and knit and embroider and write and and and).
Hi, I'm Jules. I live in New Zealand and own/opperate a wholesale nursery with my husband growing plants for garden centre's. I am creative in many ways (painting, crochet, textile sculpting) jumping from one hobby to the next and finishing few projects. My most continuous source of creativity is metalsmithing and I've made a fair bit of jewellery offer the past 6 years...and never sold any. I've given a fair amount to family though and the kids in our family (all young adults now) have loved the rings and things I've made. I would like to make this my day job one day, but it's so daunting to consider, especially when I sit at my bench and feel no creative spark at all and feel like a massive fraud! 😅
On a happy note my dog loves it when I sit at the bench, she sleeps at my feet in non-judgemental solidarity.
I'm Miriam.
I'm a theatrical costume designer and also do custom work. While I'm good at focusing when I have a clearly defined structure, I have a lot of difficulty without it.
I have so many ideas of things to do and techniques that I'm interested in and want to pursue for both my clients and myself, but I find that I can't seem to find the time to pursue them in a focused way unless I have specific deadlines imposed externally.
I love taking workshops and learning new things—all things seem possible to me under those circumstances—but when I get home, life takes over. Part of it is life with 3 human and 2 feline agents of chaos (also, have to admit, I'm kind of an agent of chaos myself).
I don't have any answers, just observations.
Hi Sarai, I really enjoy your substack and have shared it on my own :) I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and am a visual artist, mainly painting. So my work is a creative outlet of course, but I love to cook and knit in my spare time. I'm dedicated to yoga and meditation practices, and find that they are a wonderfully effective way to practice staying present and have the side effect of influencing time perception in a nice way. I really enjoy your observations here and your message of slowing down, so thank you! _/\_
Thanks for the new introduction. It's so true that it's about making energy more than time per se, especially for those of us with "fewer spoons."
I'm Kathryn, writing full-time from San Francisco, exploring the complex relationship between art and mental health (both terms used broadly).
Writing is my most frequent creative outlet but sometimes it gets complicated because it's also my career and sometimes words don't come easily for certain things so I also crochet and collage as favorite forms of creative release.
I am happy to be here <3
I live in the North of England and mainly sew and draw. I would like to learn how to knit snd crochet too but I'm in no big rush.
I am being more mindful these days about how I spent my time so no matter how mundane the task I am trying to do it fully rather than while rushing or thinking about other things. Meditation has helped with this enormously.
I my name is Emy, I live in San Francisco Ca, the Tenderloin to be exact. I am a photographer and have a touch of crafting ADD. I love it all! I just got into making infographs on Canva and love it BUT my heart will always make sewing my number one creative endeavor. I love the idea of connecting with like minded folks and love making new friends!
I'm Vreni from the northwest corner of Connecticut. I live very close to the Massachussets and New York borders. I mainly sew, currently it's mostly mending and quilting, but as it warms up here, I'll be doing some dyeing, and playing more with color and embellishment. As I'm waiting for housing to open up, I am between a permanent home, so my activities are somewhat limited to what is currently in my small room. I have a large storage unit with all my fabrics and dyes and embellishment "stuff", and as the weather improves, I'l be able to move some of the dyeing activities here to the house.
My biggest challenge right now is managing my time to allow me to be creative with the projects I do have here. I'm quite sure I have a bit of ADHD that needs to be addressed, and I haven't finished organizing my space since I moved in - with more fabric and projects than fit the space I'm in. I keep saying that once everything is organized, I can start sewing, quilting, creating, etc. but I need to find ways to get some of that creating in to keep me motivated until I feel the space is perfect.
I am so glad you are encouraging and teaching sewing. It is such a useful and rewarding hobby. Although I have been sewing over 50 years, still I have learned a lot from your podcasts and posts. Now I am looking forward to this new Making Time. It sounds like something I may need.
Hello ☺️I’m Bee and I live in Finistere in Brittany, France. I’m originally from Wales in the UK but I have lived here for 25 years.
My home is in a very rural area, a National Park effectively so yes, lots of walking, watching wildlife and looking after my garden and veg plot. Favourite things to do... sewing garments ( Seamwork member) fiddle playing, photography, knitting easy socks, cooking and trying new craft things in general.
Very much enjoying Sarai’s Substack here ☺️
I appreciate this newsletter, Sarai! I'm Amy, in Chicago, IL, USA. During the day I run my own graphic design business, which can zap my creative energy. My outside of work creative outlets change all the time, but over the past few years sewing has risen to the top. I'm also a very enthusiastic racquet sport player: badminton whenever I can, pickleball when I can't find anyone to play badminton with ;)
I live in Roswell (a suburb north of Atlanta) with my partner and our cat.
My favorite creative outlets are:
🟢 Writing about fulfillment and financial freedom (for former overachievers)
🟢 Coding web tools
I love the feel of this Making Time publication and ideas about zooming out and slowing down. Thinking about direction instead of speed (rushing to the wrong place helps no one).
I’m Barbara. I love FPA (Fine and Performing Arts).
Whether an oversized kabuki box of makeup, paints and pastels, or just the 64 pristine box of Crayolas - love to colour and create artistic works. Want to learn to use my tablet to create art. Would love to be a rec therapist where people heal through art!🥰💫🫧and just have FUN!
Little late to the party, but...
My name is Deb.
I'm from the Madison area in Wisconsin in the US.
Some of my current creative outlets include sewing & cross stitching.
In the past I have dabbled in lots of different arts & crafts, including different types of painting & multi-media art, knitting, crocheting. I've dabble in a lot, and mastered almost none. ;b
I'd like to learn embroidery, and get back into either knitting or crocheting on more consistent basis. But first... sewing -- getting to a point where I feel a bit more confident in those skills, especially sizing and fitting. :D
I’m Addie- we live in central Ohio- with dreams of someday owning a small hobby farm. My favorite creative outlet has to be sewing, but I wish I was more creative in the project itself- color blocking, adding small details, etc. I tend to stick to my comfort zone of following the pattern as written. This year I’d like to develop my creativity more- get back to drawing, maybe work on journaling, and see if that helps me slow down, and delve into the art form rather than just the making. Thank you for your writings Sarai! They bring a level of peace and calm to my often anxious brain!
I'm Liliana, I live in Vienna, Austria and I work as a costume assistant for the opera. I mainly sew things for myself (my job is not very hands-on), I started knitting last year and I want to get back into drawing. I also love being outdoors and want to learn more about herbalism.
I think to get anything creative done, I need three things: Energy, motivation and time. It's surprisingly hard to have all three at the same time! This year, I'm trying to cultivate more creative routines, so that things become a habit...
I’m Jenni, a native New Yorker living in Fargo, ND (I do not own a wood chipper, but I do know how to curl!). By day, I’m a biologist, and by night and weekend, I bake (and sew and knit and embroider and write and and and).
Hi, I'm Jules. I live in New Zealand and own/opperate a wholesale nursery with my husband growing plants for garden centre's. I am creative in many ways (painting, crochet, textile sculpting) jumping from one hobby to the next and finishing few projects. My most continuous source of creativity is metalsmithing and I've made a fair bit of jewellery offer the past 6 years...and never sold any. I've given a fair amount to family though and the kids in our family (all young adults now) have loved the rings and things I've made. I would like to make this my day job one day, but it's so daunting to consider, especially when I sit at my bench and feel no creative spark at all and feel like a massive fraud! 😅
On a happy note my dog loves it when I sit at the bench, she sleeps at my feet in non-judgemental solidarity.
It's nice to meet you all😁