Q&A: Free Your Mind With Creative Play
Photo by Suze Corte.
Q&A: Free Your Mind With Creative Play
Q:
I used to love drawing and painting as a kid, so I recently bought some art supplies. I thought it might encourage me to loosen up and have more fun. But I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t like anything I’ve made so far. And now every time I sit down to paint, I feel stuck and frustrated with myself. What’s the point of making art that isn’t good? Why is it so hard to let go and have fun with it?
-Anonymous
A:
My family’s love language is creative play.
We are musicians, sewists, dancers, writers, artists, photographers, dreamers, and tinkerers. When we get together at our reunions, we have boatloads of fun.
My mom and aunt are both prolific artists. My whole life I watched them enjoy the process of making stuff, and not getting too discouraged about getting it “right.” So, ever since my tiny hands could grip a crayon, I’ve been encouraged to make things. To play.
But even though my inner artist was nurtured and inspired to the high heavens during childhood, I struggle now. As a grown up, I find it so hard to (1) prioritize creative play and (2) not judge what I’m making. But, I must get past this! We all must get past the critic and play more.
Creative play is oxygen. As author Martha Beck puts it, anxiety can’t survive when we’re making something. We move out of what my Aunt Nancy calls “everyday brain,” and we move into a sacred place of true magic.
So, to answer our inaugural reader question, I’m delighted to welcome my two creativity partners and mentors, my mom Suze Corte and her sister Nancy SM Waldman.
Together, we recorded a conversation about the importance of getting past the inner critic and diving into creative play—which we believe is a key ingredient to a fulfilling life. I’m delighted to eternally capture a bit of their wisdom and share it with you.
Suze Corte lives an artful life as a painter based in Asheville, North Carolina. A lifelong creative, she has been a magazine art director, expressive arts teacher, award-winning early childhood educator, and entrepreneur. You can discover Suze’s colorful paintings and playful process on her website and Instagram.
Nancy SM Waldman is a speculative fiction writer based in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She has painted, illustrated, sewed, quilted, weaved, cooked, and created expansively. You can buy Nancy’s short story collections on Amazon and sign up for her newsletter to hear when her new novel is released later this year. You can also find her on Instagram and Bluesky.
And I’m Quinn Corte, a creator of art, words, and magic. If you like this conversation, subscribe here to get my monthly Care Package newsletter!
Without further ado, listen to our conversation here:
In our conversation, we discuss:
Whether it’s possible (or helpful) to recapture the magic of being a child
How to adopt a beginner’s mindset, even as an adult with high expectations
Seeing creative practice as “experimentation” to help shift out of perfectionism
Making a thousand shitty paintings or writing a million words
What to do when facing a blank page
My mom’s and aunt’s tactics for shifting out of their heads and into creative flow
Strategies for quieting our thoughts, ego, and urge to compare to others
A family story about an all-night creative frenzy
What my mom and aunt would say to someone who thinks they aren’t creative
Why creative play is so therapeutic, fun, and important
Our 11 Strategies for Getting Out of Your Head and Into Creative Play
To calibrate expectations and keep an open mind, use the word “experiment.” For example, “I’m going to sit down and experiment with these watercolors.”
To make it all feel less precious, buy cheap materials and a cheap sketchbook. Label it “Sketchbook of Shitty Experiments” or “Shitty First Drafts.”
Make something. Turn the page. Repeat. Iterate with abundance.
To get out of your head and into your body, draw with a pencil and paper or make something with your hands.
Try drawing something from life, except draw it upside-down. This tricks your left brain to get quiet and helps you look instead of think.
Use movement and music to take you to another mental space before you start creating.
Before your art session, try doing a ritual with sensory elements (smell, sound, taste, texture, beauty) to open up a divine channel.
Before creating, go outside and take a walk—or take a shower—to shift out of “everyday brain.”
Try “defocusing” before you make art. Let your eyes soft-focus on an object in front of you until you feel a shift in your state.
Extend the idea of creative play beyond visual art. Use a beginner’s experimental mindset with cooking, gardening, photography, dancing, writing poems, or setting the table.
Have a creative play party. Get a group together, put out a bunch of materials and snacks, and let the frenzy take over.
Resources for Creative Play & the Inner Critic
Flora Bowley - Suze’s beloved painting teacher; lots of classes and resources
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain - Book and workbook by Betty Edwards
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear - Book by Elizabeth Gilbert
“Ira Glass on the Creative Process” - Two-minute YouTube video about being a beginner
The Artists Way - Book and cultural phenomenon by Julia Cameron
“Who Am I Doing This For?” - Substack post by Flo
“Reasons to Create for No Reason” - Blog post by Martha Beck
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life - Book by Anne Lamott who coined “shitty first drafts”
Wisdom from Suze Corte
“Practice doesn’t have to be a chore. It can be so fun! Basically, that’s what your life with art IS—it’s practice. You’re always learning.”
“You’re going to have to give up some control… [Making art] is where you GET to let go.”
“I can feel a shift in myself where I’m not thinking so much, and that’s where I want to be. I’m not saying ‘I need to do this or that’…I’m saying, ‘Why don’t I try this? If I don’t like it, I can change it.’”
“You’ve just got to start. Start moving and realize you can turn that page.”
Wisdom from Nancy SM Waldman
“There’s a process of getting out of your ‘everyday brain’ and into your ‘creative brain.’ Your everyday brain does not want to give up control. There are lots of tricks for doing that.”
“If we’re focused on product, we forget that being in that [creative] state and experiencing that magic IS THE POINT. It’s so good for us. So, who cares what the product is?”
“We’re trying to get in the flow and have some fun. The least important thing is what it looks like when you’re done. The most important thing is that you can reach that place where you feel like you’re a conduit for magic.”
Your turn:
What came up for you in this conversation? Did you experience envy, inspiration, comparison, excitement, fear?
What works best for you when you want to get out of your head and into a playful, connected flow?
Is there one thing you heard today that you’d like to try?