Its A Requirement, Not A Reward!

Those who spend much time around me find out quickly my love of all things creative.

I had my first “business” at age 9 having sewn hair scrunchies (remember those!?!) and bows using school uniform fabric. I saw a gap in the market with no hair accessories allowed and gained approval to make and then sell the uniform appropriate ones on registration day. I LOVED sewing them (all by myself!) and made $200 having sold out! While home schooled for 6 1/2 years, my mom gave me an elective of “crafts” each year. 🙂 I enjoyed everything from tole painting to paper making, sewing and creating specialty candies and even preserving and re-setting wedding bouquets among other things.

While I chose particular crafts for my school elective, out of hours my mom taught me to work first, then play. Her love of crafts was considered to be a reward which she worked hard for. I think she had so much fun doing them and she was such a hard worker that she felt a need to have an excuse to do crafts. She would say things like, “let’s work really hard today so that we can spend a little extra time tomorrow doing that craft”. I learned that art was a reward and I learned to work hard for it.

Last year I was feeling little motivation for a large project I’d been working on for months. I was looking forward to painting as a reward when I finished. Sadly the project was dragging and I’d lost inspiration. I got on skype with a dear friend in Panama and in sharing how I was feeling, she asked me how long it had been since I did anything art related. It had been months. She told me I should ask myself if art was a requirement or a reward. I’d never thought of it in that way to be honest. Good friends are a dear treasure. I realized when I don’t make room for art regularly, I wilt… and fast. God created me with a desire to be artistic for a reason and who am I to deny myself what God has put in my heart to do?!? Art gives me the fuel to work hard. While I am still learning how often I need to be creative and what that looks like in my life, I’m pursuing making it more of a priority now seeing it as a requirement in my life.

Do you have things in your life that you reward yourself with after hard work? Are they really things you require to not wilt? Are they the things that give you the fuel you need? I’d encourage you to give yourself what you need to be at your best for yourself and others. Its certainly a journey I’m on. 🙂

You are loved,

 Rebekah

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Loading...