Prioritizing Your Creative Pursuits: Guest Post by Corrie Legge

Have you ever had a creative dream that seems to constantly get pushed to the backburner? Maybe you have a project in mind that takes up tons of your mental bandwidth, and yet you never seem to actually take action on it?

Prioritizing your creative pursuits can be challenging in itself. But add kids to the mix and oh man does it get complicated…

It’s so easy to wait. To wait for the perfect time, the perfect moment. You say, “I’ll just wait until I have hours of uninterrupted time to dive deep into this.” But the reality is…that time never comes. So your ideas stay exactly that…ideas. 

I’ve been there. I’m a mom of two young children. I have a 2 year old son who is adventurous and curious and says “mom” approximately 1 millions times a day. (Seriously. If he can day “yummy so good!” 67 times while eating a bowl of Cheerios…we counted…I don’t think my “mom” estimate is far off.)

And I also have a 2 month old daughter whose personality is changing and developing on a daily basis. She smiles and coos and tries to snatch any moment of attention that she can, understandably fighting for it since she’s got a toddler brother to contend with. 

For me, being a mom has made it incredibly challenging to find the pockets of time I used to have to pursue my creativity the way I want to. I no longer get full days to build characters and worlds around myself just because. I never get to spend an entire rainy Saturday with my scrapbooking supplies strewn all over the living room and guilty pleasure movies playing in the background. The days of burying myself in a writing or knitting project for hours on end are far behind me. 

But, at the same time, honoring my own creativity has never been so important. So, here I am, sitting with my daughter snuggled into my arms at 6am, writing this blog. Because I can’t wait for the perfect time to write this. It will never come. 

I could easily write about all of the challenges that make it difficult to prioritize your creative passions as a new parent. But, if you are a new parent, you’re already familiar with the challenges. The time constraints, fatigue, financial limitations, mom-guilt (or dad-guilt or parent-guilt). 

So instead of harping on all the reasons prioritizing your creativity is hard as a parent, I'm going to share with you why, despite all of that, I've made it my mission to continue to prioritize my creativity anyway.

My son was born during the pandemic, in December 2020. I had already been out of acting class and out of work for quite a while by this point. The pandemic shut down acting studios. No new projects were being filmed. As a pregnant person, I had to be especially cautious. And on top of all of that, we had moved out of NYC and away from my community of creatives. Everything compounded all at once, demolishing my creative practice.

So, when he was born I didn’t have any systems in place to continue prioritizing my creative pursuits. I fell full force into motherhood. And while I love my son whole heartedly, I knew something was missing. Even so, it took me over 7 months to define for myself what I longed for, and to take the first steps towards reestablishing my creative practices. 

But eventually, I found my way back. I completed The Artist’s Way. I re-enrolled in acting classes. I restarted my morning pages and bullet journaling practices. And once I started leaning into my creativity again, I started to feel whole. 

I truly believe that making time for my creative self makes me a better parent. And, in turn, being a parent makes me a more passionate creative. By honoring my own passions, I’m showing my kids how to value and prioritize theirs. I’m creating a home where creativity and curiosity are celebrated. I’m modeling self care practices. I’m deepening my wells of empathy and patiences, and helping my children do the same. 

Leaning into your creative dreams is anything but selfish. It’s magical. Art can heal. Creativity can change the world. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. 

Let this be your sign to dive all in.

I can’t wait to see what you create,

-Corrie 

Corrie is a professional working actor and voiceover artist. She is also a productivity coach who helps multi-passionate creatives embrace the creative life of their dreams. One of the ways she does this is through her program, Embrace Your Artist’s Way - A 12-week guided group journey through Julia Cameron's The Artist’s Way, a creativity course designed to help you reconnect with what inspires you, clear away artistic blocks, and rediscover what ignites your creativity. The next live session of Embrace Your Artist’s Way begins May 1st, 2023. All are welcome!