Here at Len’s Journal we love creativity. That’s why Len shares photography he loves all bound up in a book for you to enjoy.

He also loves to draw, to paint, printmaking, to make books and anything else creative that comes his way. His love of trees inspires his work, his love of walking in nature helps to fuel his creativity.

So, here we are, at the start of February, sharing our love of creativity. For one month we will be giving ourselves the gift of creativity every day.

How can we do this? By allowing ourselves time each day to do something creative. That is a lot of different things to different people. It might be getting out there each day to take a new photo. Maybe it is painting a new painting every day. Maybe, it is starting a drawing and working on it every day until it is finished. Maybe, it is learning how to knit by practicing every day until you’ve got it. Maybe, it is simply allowing yourself the time to sit and reflect and write in your journal. Maybe, it is going for a walk in nature each day and getting great ideas whilst you are out there.

How much time each day? How long is a piece of string? Well, maybe not more than 24 hours. It can just be 5 or 10 minutes if you don’t feel you have a lot of time to spare, however, it’s likely that once you start, your 5 minutes will turn into 10 minutes…

It isn’t about creating your finest work, or pushing your creative limits, or putting yourself under pressure. This is something positive for you. How many of you would love to be creative? Well, everyone can! It doesn’t have to be pretty, it is about doing something amazing for yourself. For me? I’d love to get back into drawing, I haven’t practiced for years, so I will be creating some fine messes I expect. But that’s okay, after a whole month of it, I might get better!

Any of you out there who have that feeling that you just don’t have time to be creative, why not give it a go this month? Gift yourself the gift of time each day to do something you like. Talk to your family and significant people in your life, share your creative desires and see if they can help you achieve just a few minutes each day if nothing else. Recruit a friend to be creative with and hold each other to account, encourage each other and motivate each other to do this amazing thing for yourself.

We first heard about Creative February from Takeyce Walter, when Len and Brie interviewed her on their podcast. Takeyce started Creative February.

To listen to the podcast and hear Len and Takeyce chat about Creative February and how it started, please follow the link below:

https://www.acreativeaffairpodcast.com/e/creative-february-with-takeyce-walter

Check out the Creative February instagram page here for inspiration:

https://www.instagram.com/creativefebruary/

Photograph copyright © Len Metcalf 2024