“And then, things start to change. I forget everything, everything gets white. I don’t hear nothin’. Ya know, I’m in my zone. I can feel the stress…just comin’ off me. I’m doin’ good.” Buddy Valastro from Cake Boss
Do you ever watch Cake Boss? It features the family business of Carlo’s Bake Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey. At the shop’s helm is Buddy Valastro, the passionate Italian baker-extraordinaire who runs the shop with his four sisters and various other family and friends. Buddy creates the most amazing, unforgettable cakes in the midst of complete and total chaos. Sisters hollering, supplies waning, fondant failing, deadlines arriving. Buddy deals with stress on every level. But when he begins drawing his five-star designs on his cakes, he finds his sweet spot. He can be in the middle of bakery armageddon, but he doesn’t hear or see anything.
While it’s hard for me to write in the middle of swirling chaos {hello, summertime with my darling young’uns!}, I do still strategically make time for it. Also, I exercise creativity through things like gardening and cooking. They feed my creative interests and melt my stress. And unlike with writing, I can do them with my kids smack-dab next to me.
I don’t know what you like to do and what you’re great at doing. But I know you have both in abundance. I like to picture you and your un-assembly line self doing your thing this summer, maybe even trying something new. Remember God hand-picked your interests and talents. He didn’t pluck them from His Big Bucket of All Good Things and throw them at you willy-nilly. He didn’t grab the first ones he saw. He picked the best for you after thoughtfully, thoroughly planning every part that would make you you. He sees all our days stretched out before us, what He plans to accomplish through us in our lifetime, and what we need to accomplish it all.
All you have to do is make time to do it. Because He wants you to, we need you to, and you need you to.
“Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” Psalm 139: 16 {The Message}
What creative ventures do you most enjoy? Does your creativity take a different shape in the summer like mine does?
I don’t think I’ve ever read The Message version of my favorite scripture. It is beautiful and I love it and I must create art with it. I love to do so many things – write, create art, help people with their blogs, encourage my daughter and others to create art and write, etc., but there is just this one little thing that I have to do {work at a full-time job} to pay the bills, so I don’t get as much time to do what I really love and I have tremendous mommy-guilt for not getting to spend every moment (okay, most moments, she is a teenager) with my daughter (I am a single mom, so I have to work). My dream is to one day do all of the above and get paid for it too – aka owning my own business, being my own boss, setting my own schedule. Thanks for this reminder. In the past few years the summer (which was my absolute favorite season as a kid) has been so stressful for me and my anxiety has been great within me.
Oh Christina, tell the enemy to get back! No condemning yourself for doing what you need to do for *who* you love. Your daughter will surely look back on these years and be proud of you! And thankful for you. I’m praying right now your dreams become a reality and that in the fringe hours, you find a little time to plan and create. You are loved, Christina!
Thanks Kristen! You are such a sweetheart!
What an encouraging message, Kristen. Thank you. I am just on the brink of the school-age stage, so I don’t know what it’s like to create without the summertime-like chaos of kids swirling at my feet. I’ve found I need to sacrifice some pursuits in order to make time for the ones that are chosen as mine, as you’ve so beautifully reminded. When 8:00 bedtime for my little beauties rolls around, I pull out my laptop and write. Some day I’d love to take a photography class. But that will wait for the day when both of my children are (I say this with a lump in my throat) in school during the day. I need to remember I was created to be a mom first. And that is why this season will find me merging the two by (first) pouring my heart into raising my little ones, and (second) writing about it. 🙂
Ya know, I still do most my writing in the early morning {my big kids *still* get up at 7am everyday}. Sometimes, I do it later at night, but the kids have later bedtimes, so I don’t get to do too much then. No matter the age of our children, it seems we all must get creative in our schedules alone, huh? 🙂 And no two moms’ schedules look the same. We just do what works best for us!
Love your words, your priorities. Thankful for you, Becky.
Wow, I’ve been struggling with this lately. Now that my baby isn’t baby baby anymore I have this range of older kids that are very much independent but still needy, you know what I mean… But I feel guilty for wanting to do more me things – like I should only reward myself with that if I check a, b, and c off my list first each day. Or only after I give quality time to child #3 for a while. That delicate balance of it all. So hard. Yet I get resentful and grouchy if I dont allow time for myself. Working through that this summer and making sure I enjoy all the real moments each day offers.
I like how you call it a delicate balance ~ that’s exactly what it feels like to me, too.