keep calm craft on

Yesterday my middle child had a "mental health" day off school, and she spent the afternoon starting a toy elephant. The elephant is a project often done in Steiner schools here in Australia to compliment the Ancient Indian epoch the children are immersed in.

We had such a blissful time, me finally getting around to fixing up my Steiner/Waldorf craft scrapbook and lending a helping hand and my girl patiently going through the steps of making an elephant.
I felt our afternoon working side by side was very special, and to me was a clear reminder of what parenting and creativity is all about for me. I didn't really get much "done", except a bit of pasting, but my girl was very pleased with the time with me, and her progress with her pink Elephant.

Lately I have heard a lot of conversations around motherhood and creativity, about "having it all",  living your creative dreams, earning a living from said creative dreams... In fact I've heard so much of this talk that I have started to feel unsettled, anxious even, questioning my choice to stay home with the children full time, questioning my own validity as a creative soul. Should I be doing more, working on big projects, earning more, making more....

And I've had a few thoughts:
For me, mothering is innately creative, probably due to the fact that children are innately creative. I am inspired by children and inspired to see them play, make things, hear them sing, marvel at their curiosity, marvel at how they grow and learn. I've also decided what I want most is to be around my children. I have a full time job. Mothering. There's not a lot of time (or energy!) for developing a career right now. And I'm okay with that.
I am also an intensely creative person. I knit ferociously, I obsess about colours, I sing, my kids sing, we make stuff. I guess we kinda bumble around in a bit of a creative mist.
Even though I may not be recognised as creatively "successful" by the outside world, an afternoon making things with my lovely daughter felt like a real moment. And validation that our small creative path in the domestic sphere is enough. It is special. That this is nourishing the world in a tiny precious unpredictable sort of way.
That's all I've got to say on the topic for now!
Hope you enjoy the snaps!

linking to
Nicole's Keep Calm Craft On