Lockdown Reading List: Creativity & Art
As the lockdown in northern Virginia continues, I’m counting my blessings and trying to make the best use of my time. Not only for my own peace of mind but to help ease my children’s anxieties as well.
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Maybe because I’m a grown woman of a certain age, or maybe because I’ve been blessed to have so many experiences–both wonderful and sorrowful–in my life, I’m not cowering in fear over this national emergency. I tend to be a pragmatic person who tries to view all events with one question in mind: How is life happening for me?
There’s power in that single preposition–that simple word for. Instead of wondering why life happens to me, like I’m a victim or circumstance or bad luck, I always try to figure out what I’m supposed to learn from each situation. If life always happens for me, instead of to me, then that means there’s something I need to learn now in order to push forward with my goals and dreams and desires.
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With that in mind, I’ve been re-reading my favorite self-help and productivity books (see the list here) as well as re-visiting all of my favorite creativity and art books. While I’m a professional scientific librarian with all the necessary degrees, I’ve always had a creative side. A creative side that, luckily, my parents recognized and fostered from the time I was a child.
Over the years I’ve struggled to balance living overseas with my husband (a former Army officer), working in pharmaceutical laboratories, raising twins, running a wedding gown design business, teaching art in our local elementary school, and becoming a published author. Along the way I’ve struggled with writer’s block, fear of failure, and creative resistance in all its forms. And the books below are the ones I always return to–again and again–to regain my focus and help solidify the visions I have for my future self.
As my children grow and mature, I’ve shared these tools with them as well.
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All of these books require some kind of work–journaling, artist dates, or just plain thinking in silence. All of which can be done regardless of your level of quarantine or lockdown. Because there’s always freedom in your heart and head if you set your mind to it. 
