One of the advantages of having a neurospicy brain is the enormous quantity of ideas it generates on any given day. This is, unfortunately, also a disadvantage, because it can lead to a kind of creative immobility due to overwhelm. Many days I sit in my studio with many project ideas swirling in my mind and find myself unable to just choose one and begin.

Over the years of living with this mixed blessing, I’ve learned that I really do well with simple prompts: they rule out a lot of my ideas and narrow things down for me so I can choose from a smaller field of possibilities.

To help me leap into art and writing pronects without getting trapped in indecision, I decided to select one creative prompt per week for the coming year. I sat down with my favorite divination system and pulled one card for each week, and used that card to help me find a keyword or phrase to inspire creative play and exploration. And since I like you all, I thought I’d share the prompts – and my thoughts about them – on the blog.

So starting on November 17, I’ll share a simple prompt for us to explore in our various creative pursuits every Monday for the next twelve months. I’ll share the prompt of the week a the top of the post, and then create a page break so those of you who want to just take the prompt and run with it can do so without being influenced (or bored!) by my rambling thoughts.

And those of you who want to read my preliminary thoughts on the prompt, or who would like more detailed questions for journaling and reflection can continue to page 2 to read more.

This series isn’t a challenge (unless you want it to be!). There are no rules. Take any prompt at any time and play with it. Read my own thoughts on the prompt, or ignore them and just explore what the word means to you. I offer the prompts as a way to begin the week with a little creative inspiration.

I plan to work in whatever medium feels right to me, so no doubt there’ll be some fiber art, some mixed media, some writing, and maybe some new things I haven’t really tried before. Because I want this to be a year of exploration and creative joy: I think that’s something most of us could benefit from right now.

I’ll share at least some of my creations on Instagram and here on the blog. If you use the prompt too, I’d love it if you tagged me on Instagram or dropped a comment under the Monday post to share your take on the theme. And remember there’s no deadline, so you can tag me or comment any time, even if it’s been months since the prompt went up on the blog.

Photo by Annie Spratt, courtesy of Unsplash

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