Tuesday Tea | Rest For Creativity

Wherever you are reading this I hope you can cozy up with a nice hot cup of tea or coffee or even hot chocolate. It is time for another Tuesday Tea conversation. Today I wanted to talk about the power of rest for creativity. With so much of our lives dedicated to output in some way, I feel that rest is a topic that is much needed, especially here in wintertime.

Perhaps, like me, you always feel like you have to be productive. Whether it is through what we do for others, for work, or even for ourselves, we live in a world of constant output. Even our digital lives we are expected to produce content or have something of value to say or share. Our vacations are now put on display and there is pressure to have the best time possible or take the best trip photos. At work we endlessly produce our time, our energy, and our creativity. We put expectations on ourselves to be doing and creating and sharing more. As a blogger, there is a lot of pressure to put out something new and something of value every week and even every day. But that level of productivity and output is not sustainable. You cannot keep pouring from your teacup without refilling it because eventually you will run out of tea.

Which is why I want you to embrace rest this week and especially this season. Winter is a lovely time to get more rest because our calendars are naturally less busy this time of year and it is easier to find pockets of quiet throughout our weeks. When we take time to turn off all the noise, even if it is just for a fifteen minute break with a cup of tea, it replenishes something within ourselves that we cannot reach when we are constantly pouring.

From late spring through fall my social calendar is usually flooded with invitations and I am traveling, working, and creating at a faster rhythm. For this reason I have learned to love the quiet rest that comes in winter when the wedding photography season is slow and I actually get to spend weekends at home. Of course, I often fall under the trap of feeling like I have to be producing something. But with the periods of rest in between I get creative ideas that I otherwise would not have when my brain is overflowing with to-dos.

Rest restores our energy so that we can function at our best. Rest quiets anxiety and overwhelm. It brings us peace and gives us the quiet spaces to be creative and use our imaginations. It gives us a chance to wonder and to simply be. Periods of rest inspire. You may have noticed the last time you had a long period of rest that you came up with new ideas or perspectives to an old problem that you did not think of before. As children, we called these moments of quiet “boredom,” but with boredom, or times where we have to do nothing at all, we can tap into a part of our brains that we do not access when we are busy.

I hope that some time today you find a moment of rest. That when you’re preparing to go to bed you stop scrolling and put down your phone and simply be for a while. Maybe you will read instead, meditate, write in a journal, or work on a word search, a puzzle, or enjoy a cup of sleepy time tea. I hope that each day this week that you can put this into practice and find times of rest throughout your day and incorporate it into your routine. Not just for your creativity, but for your wellbeing.

Have a lovely day.