Don't Forget Your Passion Projects
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about passion projects and how important they are to nurturing our creativity. It’s so easy to put pressure on ourselves to only do the work that will further our career and help our bank accounts, but along the way we can lose the outlet where we found creative freedom and fulfilment.
This blog started out as a passion project; it was a place of self expression, exploration, and there was no pressure for it to be anything other than it was. Over the past (almost) two years it’s become something way more than I ever imagined; I take my process over here super seriously now and I'm so happy with how this space has developed over time. This blog has become a place that I create for my readers, as a resource for bloggers and creatives, and I feel crazy grateful everyday that I have the opportunity to create for such an awesome and engaged audience. I love what this space exists for and how much freedom I have to explore different topics and ideas, but sometimes I ache for the space just to write, without purpose or an audience in mind, and instead just to explore and create for myself and no one else. Between client work and running this blog and ALO, so much of my time is spent creating for others, which I without a doubt really do love; nothing makes me happier than putting work and content together that helps and supports others. Along the way though I’ve stopped making time for just writing from the heart and I’m starting to miss just writing for the sake of it with no real purpose or pressure to engage an audience.
So I’m making a promise to myself to make more time for passion projects, to put aside time every week just to write for the sake of writing, and maybe even push myself to explore writing outlets outside of my comfort zone. Maybe I'll share it publicly, or maybe I'll just write for myself and store it away for that novel I might write one day, but I know if I don't nurture my craft outside of just my work I'll lose the reason I fell in love with it in the first place. If you're aching for creative freedom, to grow in your craft without the pressure of achieving anything or making any income from it, I really want to encourage you to make time for passion projects too. Maybe for you that's your blog, or a side project, or a collaboration with other creatives; whatever it is, make sure it feeds your creative soul first and foremost. Here’s to doing what makes our heart happy, and creating just for the sake of creating sometimes.
What about you? Do you have any passion projects? I'd love to know more about them!
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