• Five Creative Goals for 2018

    Creativity can help you to achieve happiness, health, and productivity! You can embrace 2018 as your year to exercise your creativity with these five goal suggestions.

    5 Creative Goals for 2018 | The Postman's Knock

    “Creativity” means different things to different people. Everyone, however, can agree on a common factor: the positive emotional release that creativity provides. In this post, you’ll find five creative goals to work toward this year. You can pick and choose which ones suit you, and perhaps integrate those goals in your 2018 goal list!

    1. Be Kind to Your Work

    Once you create something, it’s natural to dwell on the mess-ups. This negatively skews your impression of the piece as well as your own abilities! If you focus on the negative, your creative endeavors will become a chore rather than a source of joy and personal development.

    Calligraphy Before and After Photos | The Postman's Knock
    This is one of my envelopes from 2012. If I had concentrated on the negative aspects of my work back then, I never would have been able to make improvements!

    No matter what projects you work on this year, resolve to pick out at least three positive things about each project upon finishing. You don’t need to be blind to mistakes; but instead of concentrating on them, learn from them. For example, I look at the calligraphy above, and I can see that it looks juvenile (a problem that was fixed with practice). Still, the calligraphy shows promise with the stroke contrast, and I like the dots separating the numbers in the zip code. Sure, the letter slants are all over the place, but that gives the piece a pleasant, casual look! Moral of the story: approach your work with a forgiving outlook, and you’ll keep moving forward.

    2. Incorporate Creativity into Your Routine

    Creativity can help to transform mundane tasks into rewarding projects! For example, we all have bills to pay. Next time you have to send a check, try making some mail art to put it in. It’s a good way to exercise your creativity, and it will pleasantly surprise someone on the receiving end!

    Watercolor Mail Art | The Postman's Knock
    When we lived in an apartment, I sent mail art (like this Kaitlin Style envelope) to the landlord every month. It meant a lot to him: he went so far as to purchase a bulletin board to exclusively display my monthly artwork in his office!

    Mail art isn’t the only way to incorporate creativity into your routine. You can make wifi signs to display in your home, place cards for meals in, and brown paper “tablecloths” for gatherings, among other projects!

    Mid Century Modern Wifi Password Sign Tutorial | The Postman's Knock
    Wifi password information that doubles as artwork makes a great addition to guest bedrooms! You can learn how to make this wifi artwork in this tutorial.

    Approaching must-do tasks with a willingness to be creative can make the tasks genuinely enjoyable! Next time you encounter something not-so-fun on your to-do list, try to brainstorm ways to inject some creativity into it. You’ll have fun, complete your tasks, and build up your creative skills in the process!

    3. Treat Yourself

    The way I see it, there are two ways to treat yourself with creativity. The first is the most obvious, which is to go out and buy a supply that you’ve been coveting. The second is more important — it involves giving yourself permission to indulge your creativity.

    Finetec Golds Palette | The Postman's Knock
    Many artists and calligraphers of all levels covet the Finetec Golds palette!

    If you have the funds, a new art or calligraphy supply can spur hours of creativity and experimentation! If you don’t have the funds, however, treat yourself with time. Give yourself at least an hour per week to zone out at your desk/kitchen table/wherever and just do what you want to do! Remember, you don’t need expensive supplies to explore your creativity. From making wax crayon gems to creating “Crayola” calligraphy, there are a lot of ways to exercise your artistic side without breaking the bank.

    4. Stay Inspired

    If you surround yourself with creative inspiration, you are much more likely to act on that inspiration! If you’re on social media, Pinterest offers a way to smoothly catalog anything that catches your eye. If you enjoy a more tangible approach, try starting a sketchbook journal.

    How to Make a Sketchbook Journal (and Why You Should!) | The Postman's Knock
    Sketchbook journals offer a great place to organize and glue things that you like. You can then use lettering and artistic techniques to emphasize concepts (like the illustrated Monopoly man shown here).

    Collections of inspiration will come in handy when you have time to get creative, but you have no idea what to make! A neat side effect of cataloging things that you like is the awareness you develop of yourself and your tastes.

    5. Don’t Be Shy About Sharing

    When you share your work, you open yourself up to judgment, which feels scary. However, you’ll find that — with very few exceptions — people are kind and encouraging. So, next time you finish making something creative, try snapping a photo and posting it on Instagram or Facebook. If you’re not on social media, you can send a photo of your project to a loved one (or send them the actual project as a gift).

    How to Maintain Privacy with Artistic Photos of Envelopes | The Postman's Knock
    If mail art is your thing, you need to be careful about sharing private information (like address details) on social media. You can learn how to do that in the How to Maintain Privacy with Artistic Photos of Envelopes post!

    Sharing your work can gain you encouragement and feedback. It also may motivate you to finish projects — after all, you’ve got an audience waiting! You never know, too, what kind of doors will open when you post your creative endeavors. You may get people asking for commissions, or you could garner a cool opportunity like a feature in a magazine.


    So, there you have it: the list of TPK suggested creative goals for 2018! For additional creative goals, you can check out the Five Attainable Creative Goals for 2017 post. Remember, the year is young, and you have it in your power to make it your best yet!

    Thanks so much for reading TPK, and enjoy the rest of your day!

    Warmly,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock