How to Stay Creative (and Sane) in December Without Adding Anything Else to Your Plate
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December Called - It Wants You to Calm Down
A Midlife Creative PSA
You know that moment in December when you realize you've been holding your breath since Halloween? Where in the world did November go, and why is the hamster wheel of life spinning so fast?! Why is that once the calendar flips to December, suddenly we're expected to become:
✔️ holiday host
✔️ cookie baker & gift-wrapper extraordinaire
✔️ runner and preparer for work, family, and home
✔️ emotional support human for everyone within a 40-mile radius
✔️ and STILL somehow "take time for ourselves"
Sure. Okay. With what time? Between 2:14–2:16 a.m.? I mean, I am up anyway.
This year, instead of pretending we're all serene woodland fairies gracefully gliding through the holidays, let's just tell the truth:
It's chaotic. It's beautiful. It's a lot. And we're tired.
So here's my December philosophy for 2025:
Creativity = Survival Skill
Not in a woo-woo find your inner muse way. I mean in a if I don't sit down and just paint or scribble or glue random paper scraps to something, I might lose it way. My art table is currently my witness protection program. I sit down, hide, make a few messy marks, and suddenly no one can find me for fifty minutes. Pure Bliss.
The Magic Isn't in the Decorations
It's in the Moment. We're told this month should feel sparkly and full of wonder. And honestly? My house isn't decorated, not a single ornament is painted, and I definitely haven't bought the first sprinkle.
And yet, I'm still overflowing with joy.Not the Instagram-perfect kind but the softer kind. The survival-mode, coffee-fueled, soul-still-glimmering kind. So when people ask, "Are you ready for Christmas?" I've started saying, "I'm ready for the part that matters." Because I believe in magical Christmases - the simple ones, the slower ones, the ones where the magic comes from noticing the beauty already here.The magic is something we let ourselves feel, it isn't something we create perfectly.
Let's Try Something Better This Year
Instead of sprinting to the finish line of the year like our hair is on fire, what if we didn't? What if we did teeny-tiny creative things that keep us tethered to ourselves? Small, sane moments that pull us out of overwhelm and back into our own bodies, no more need to make a masterpiece to feel creative.December doesn't need another superwoman. It needs a woman who remembers she's a human being with limits, needs, and a creative heart that deserves oxygen.
A tiny invitation
Do you want something small and grounding to slip into your December without adding strain? I have a free miniature course for you, The Soulful Zine, just for that reason. Think of it as your "I need five minutes to myself before I scream" creative companion. No rules. No pressure. Just a soft landing place in the middle of holiday madness. Let's survive December and feel a little more like ourselves while we do it.