*This video was edited when I was using blogspot and it woud have been SUCH a task to remove the watermark, just pretend it's not there :) *
12/2025
The month of November was quite creative. November is my birthday month and most years I celebrate quietly. This year wasn't very different except I vowed to fill my Bday weekend with art. The initial plan was to go off to an Air BnB and create my heart away BUT things fell through. When I realized I wasn't going on a personal artist retreat I was DOWN like really pissed. BUUUUTTTT, at the beginning of the month, I had a conversation with my Mother (completely unrelated to my bday but the advice still applied). She asked me “ But in this situation, in the grand scheme of things, is this hurting you or them?”. That just reminded me that I could choose to be miserable on the anniversary of my birth OR I could celebrate by any means necessary. So I cried and then I got my ass up and got to it. I ended up having the BEST birthday. I spent time with some of my favorite people in the world, I had deep conversations, created and consumed art. To be honest, it was for the best that I didn't go on a personal retreat. I tend to isolate, and my soul was longing for community.
This visual recap is the result of a conscious decision to document snippets of my creative practice for my own personal archive. Being able to recap what I have done is very important for me because I often feel like I am not doing enough or anything at all to feed and exercise my creativity. Recapping and documenting my creative practice has helped me to reframe the way I look at everything. If you would have told me months ago that I would have been able to do this much creatively in a month during the busy season at work, while balancing all of life I would have said you just don't understand I DON'T HAVE THE TIME. Turns out balancing life is a practice in and of itself and my muscles are quite strong.
For a long while I had been feeling disconnected from my creative self. A part of this is we live in a society that suppresses creativity and authenticity. The other part is balancing adulthood, mental health, unlearning so much and re parenting myself while parenting all the things you didn't know you had to do when you became an adult. It is really deep work and it’s not easy on any day but the results are worth it. In the midst of all of this though, it felt like my creative practice, the one thing that has always gotten me through and saved me, took a back seat. I mean I was still using my creative muscle because I teach visual arts and I’m blessed enough to have a creative job but I wasn’t creating enough for myself. There was very little self expression.
Along with documenting, I have been very intentional about what I consume. I don’t watch a lot of TV and I don't have social media on my phone so I already have a fairly curated experience, but my goal for the past few months has been to deep dive into curiosity and imagination work. November did not disappoint! The most impactful being the Maryland Film Festival. Every year I intend to go and every year I forget (including this year lol). I was only reminded by a poster at one of my favorite cafes. I was still in my woe is me state when I woke up the morning after but decided to buy tickets and go. We saw Balti-shorts and I cried for 80% of the show. I saw my favorite artist, Ms. Joyce J. Scott, I was in awe of the different ways these artists told stories and it verified for me that your story, your vision, your specific type of creativity is important and it is truly selfish not to share.
In November I was reminded that creativity is a state of mind, creativity is an act, creativity is a muscle, creativity is energy Creativity is in community. Creativity is in the way I move through the world, the way I wear my hair, the way I cook food, the way I interact with my children, how I style my clothes and even how I talk. My version of creativity is necessary. Expression is necessary.
Stay Curious,
Shug