Before we get started: This post was originally shared with my email community in May 2019. I’m sharing it with you on the the blog today as gentle reminder of how important it is to prioritise our mental health, not just for our creativity but for our fundamental well-being.

This post also gives a little insight as to what you might expect from my fortnightly Letters from the Road. If you’d like to receive letters like this to your inbox every other Saturday, you can sign up below. You’ll also receive the two free photography e-books I made with you in mind.

I treated myself to some clothes for my birthday. As I stood at the checkout, I found myself wondering what the hell my pin number was. It felt odd to have it vanish from my brain and as I grappled with the muscle memory, I realised that I haven’t really spent any money on myself in about six months.

I’ve never been a natural shopper anyway. Until recently, my wardrobe was simply a collection of impulse buys to scratch an itch I never could quite reach. A mis-match of stuff, stuff, stuff. None of which ever really went together. So many clothes and nothing to wear. The more I bought, the more I thought I needed to buy. Deeply unsatisfying.

Fed up with my continual fed-upness, at the start of the year I gave myself a good Marie-Kondo. Got rid of the things that no longer sparked joy and committed myself to a capsule wardrobe. From the pile of stuff I never wore, remained a decision to replace this tendency to spend with something more fulfilling.

“Marketers do a great job of convincing us we need more: they establish a void so we try to fill it. For most of us, however, the void has nothing to do with a need to consume more; in fact, the opposite is true: when we consume too much, we experience stress, anxiety, and depression, effectively deepening the void. Our possessions possess us. They weigh us down mentally, physically, emotionally, and the void becomes cavernous.” Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus (The Minimalists)

For many of us, we’re often so caught up in our consumerist mindset that we forget our inherent need to create. Therein lies the real void. The creative void. The one we could all benefit from tending to. With this in mind, I’ve been trying this on for size: create more and consume less. The more I continue down this path, the clearer it becomes. If I spend more time creating, I’ll spend less time consuming. And that feels pretty good.

So what could a creative day look like? For me, it would most certainly involving picture-making. Whether that’s using my DSLR or simply taking photos with my iPhone if I can’t squeeze the big camera in. Slowing down to watch where the good light is and how it might play in my frame. Observing my little girl's movements before coming in close to take that photo.

I might also try to find a few minutes to do some writing. Whether that be journalling a few thoughts or jotting down ideas for a blog post or my next letter to you fine folk. My ukulele will get some love too. Even 5 or 10 just minutes of playing does me the world of good. If you fancy getting your create on this weekend but are stuck for ideas, you might find this post I wrote on creative self-care helpful.

It’s simple pleasures these days. A series of daily practices that I need to tend to as part of my self-care. Spending less but actually having more.

Suzie x

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