Coming up with ideas for the monthly Purple Crayon newsletter isn’t always easy. Sometimes I’m lucky, and an idea will find me just when I’m getting ready to create. Other times, I’m forced to think up a topic at the last minute.
I’m feeling the pressure as I write this, with December 1st just around the corner. Perhaps my muse, like me, is stymied by the frenetic energy that envelopes this time of year.
To be honest, I don’t do much for the holidays, but one can’t help getting sucked into the madness. Just this morning, I ventured to the grocery store—sharing the road with the gazillion people in search of Black Friday deals—and was hit with the post-Thanksgiving apocalypse. Harris Teeter seemed to be out of everything, including unsalted butter, if you can believe it!
After I fought my way to grocery store number two (I needed that butter!) and finally got back home, I dragged my loot into the kitchen and was faced with bags of groceries waiting to be turned into a late-Thanksgiving feast. (My family’s holiday was postponed a few days to accommodate work schedules and other family commitments.)
As much as I enjoy aspects of the holidays, like spending time with friends and family, and, of course, indulging in scrumptious food, I find it particularly challenging to find space, literally and figuratively, this time of year. Like most creatives—and most people, for that matter—I need quiet to soothe my nerves and feed my soul, so I look for ways to retreat, if only for a few minutes a day.
To produce this article, for example, I hunkered down at the kitchen table, where I could focus on my writing and not be distracted by the dozens of to-do’s I have waiting on my desk. I then kindly, but firmly, asked my husband to entertain himself for a while, positioned my chair so I could enjoy my natural surroundings, turned on some relaxing music, and got to work.
I don’t think I created a masterpiece this month, but at least I came up with something, and, with art, sometimes we must settle, and be grateful, for just that.
I urge you to be kind to yourself this month. No matter how crazy things get, allow yourself regular "time outs" to inspire and refuel your creative spirit—and do your best to commend, not castigate, yourself for doing so. You can’t give yourself, your loved ones, or your art, a better gift!
And speaking of giving yourself, your loved ones, or your art a gift, unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on your perspective!—all of our holiday workshops are just about sold out (as of this writing, we have one seat remaining for our second Sharpie Silk Scarf workshop on 12/14), but there’s still plenty of room available for most of our January and February classes. I wouldn’t wait too long to register, however, as these are filling quickly as well.
Need other gift ideas for the creative women in your life? We still have plenty of affordable memberships and gift certificates available. Please contact us for details.
Finally, we're trying something new on Saturday, 11/30, from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM: a PC "Pop-Up Market." If the event goes well, we'll continue it every Saturday morning at the studio (check the PC calendar for upcoming dates), with different PC members selling items at each event. I hope that you'll stop by!
I look forward to playing with you! Happy Holidays!
—Pam Robbins, Owner
