Make Space for Your Art

        Maybe’s it’s physical space, maybe it’s mental. Whatever your creative pursuit, it needs a little space in your life.Years ago, I started writing by candlelight to feel closer to a character who was writing a journal in the 1820s. I still do it when I can, usually a few times a week in our library/music room. The circle of light is plenty bright enough to read and write by, and it limits my ability to see the distractions outside the glow. Maybe it even connects me to all the writers who wrote before electric light became wide spread less than 100 years ago.You don’t have to get all fancy. It might be as simple as thinking of a favorite armless chair as the place you return to for guitar practice. It may be ordering a cup of tea or coffee in a coffee house and making a table your sketching place for an hour. It may be creating a ritual like a fifteen minute walk to get you in the mood to play with clay.I’m just saying, if you enjoy doing something artful, find a way to do it in the coming year. No pressure, no guilt. Just, you know, play with it!        p.s. Full disclosure. This is what the table looked like before I cleaned it up for the photo shoot and angled toward the curtains (no filters on the first one, just nice lighting). You do not have to have a clean house in order to write or make art. In fact, a clean house may be a detriment to good art! This piece was originally published on Sally's personal blog and can be accessed here. Hedgebrook supports visionary women writers whose stories and ideas shape our culture now and for generations to come. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily representative of the opinions of Hedgebrook, its staff or board members.