Make Time for Things that Make you Happy

Back in 2014, before I got pregnant, I had so much free time. I used to spend so many minutes getting ready for the day, putting on makeup, choosing my clothes, taking selfies, reading, doodling and of course, making time for the things that made me happy like coloring, illustrating and making patterns. I particularly enjoyed the last three things on that list. I wanted to create more fabric and work on challenging sewing projects. I believed that with my baby, things would be hard of course, but possible. I naively decided that I was going to make the time to make patterns and draw every day while the baby slept.Then, Jax was born. And with the blessing and happiness that he brought to my life, the responsibilities and tiredness appeared. One day after crying for hours, I realized that I needed to decide between spending my precious free time illustrating or sleeping. I decided to sleep, and it was the best decision or I wouldn’t have survived the crazy first months as a new mom.Then when things got better what happened is that I got busy with well, life. Between projects with the blog, family and me trying to find myself in this new world as a mom, I forgot to make time for the things that made me happy.A few weeks ago, I found one of my old notebooks with all my doodles and illustrations. I checked out my Spoonflower shop, that I hadn’t update in a whole year, and as soon as I scrolled down the shop I realized that I missed it. I missed the creative process, the search for inspiration and the joy I felt while illustrating and creating patterns.Just days after I found my notebook, I went to Los Angeles for the #WeAllGrow Summit and there I meet Dariela and Dariana, owners of daridesignstudio.com and artlicensingdesign.com. We had been virtual friends for a long time ago and I admire their work so much. Meeting them in person sparked that curiosity of getting back to old dreams and to pursue them again, this time as a team with my sister.I’m back to making time for the things that make me happy, like designing products, patterns and creating art and illustrations. I’m finally challenging myself to create something new everyday and I’m feeling creative again. Filling blank pages in a new notebook is bringing me a great feeling of accomplishment and happiness. Something I didn’t appreciate enough when I had all the time of the world. Now a few minutes being creative are making a huge difference in the way I feel and I act. I’m inspired and excited and I count the hours to sit down and doodle at night, while my baby sleeps.Have you found yourself feeling like you need to get back to doing something you haven’t done in a long time? How are you finding the time? Any tips on being productive as a creative person?