When work eats your creativity
Do you love watching recipe videos online?
Same.
Something about the way they edit the videos so each ingredient only takes a split second to prepare feels so gratifying.
I particularly like the ones in the ‘I’m a professional chef, here’s what I cook for myself…’ category, because you KNOW you’re about to get something quick and easy with an extra tasty twist.
And those videos got me thinking. What else do people do that uses their professional skillset, but isn’t for work?
Me? I write about perfume.
I was a writer long before I started getting paid for my writing. I used to have stories and poems and essays spilling out of my pen faster than I could think. Now, that creative energy gets eaten up by client projects and trying to solve the puzzle of my own business. (Can you relate?)
And that’s fine.
But it’s also not fine, because to be an excellent writer, the kind of writer that puts words together in new and impactful ways, you need to practice without guidelines or boundaries. You need a place to try things out, see how they feel, improve them, and see where they take you.
That’s what my Substack has become for me.
Right now, I’m supposed to be writing a sassy FAQ section for an insurance syndicate. Instead, I’m deep-diving into when Hans Christian Andersen fairytales got so clinical as part of a perfume brand profile. But like it’s part of my ~ creative development ~ so it’s important. Okay? Okay.
If you miss having a creative playground too, maybe it’ll spark something for you.
PS. Tell me, do you have a non-work related playground for your work-related skills? I’d love to see it if you do.
