Thank you so much for your lovely, supportive comments on last week’s post! They were so encouraging. Thank you!
Today I thought I’d ask you what turning life into art means to you.
Last year when I decided to change the Artfully Carin tagline to “turning daily life into art”, I had a bit of a revelation. This was the missing piece of puzzle I’d been looking for.
Blog experts tell you to “go niche” every chance they get. Art bloggers should stick to writing about art, home decor and DIY bloggers should write about home makeovers, and so on. I tried sticking to those rules, but they felt totally wrong to me. After I changed the tagline, I realised why. My life is my canvas. I try to turn my whole life into art, so it doesn’t fit neatly into one niche. As a result I’m much more comfortable being a creative lifestyle blog than an art one.
But I have been mulling it over a lot since then. What does turning your life into art even mean? And how do you do that?
For me as a creative person, it’s easy to just focus on the creative side and leave it at that. I know that I love making art, crafting, decorating, making something new out of something old, blogging, cooking baking, taking photos, and so on. I know that I like celebrating the everyday in my art. And I know that I need to be creative every day to feel well in myself.
But it runs deeper than that.
Turning your life into art is so much more than having creative interests or jobs. It’s living the life you feel you were made for; a life that feels true to you, pulls you in, and brings out the best in you. It’s finding your style and having the courage to embrace it, not just getting sucked into trends and other people’s ideas of taste and style. It’s knowing that it won’t look the same way for everyone and being okay with that. It’s wanting the best for others, and finding a million little ways to support them when they chase their best lives. It’s making the most of the life you were given.
Living that kind of life takes time and dedication, no doubt about it, but it’s totally worth it.
So, what does turning life into art mean to you?
It’s what you said: It’s living the life you feel you were made for; a life that feels true to you, pulls you in, and brings out the best in you. But also – the daily art I want to experience and create is inside my own home. This year, I want to continue to turn my home into a place that fills me up, so that I can pour out my creativity. (probably a blog post somewhere down the line). Is that photo from your bedroom? I love it!
Angie, I LOVE that, and I’m doing exactly the same. The other day I realised that we were about half way through the major renovation we’re doing in our house, and that so much time and energy have gone into the renovation progress that I haven’t given much serious thought to decorating in a cohesive way or a way that really fills me up, so I’m focusing on that this year too. The bedroom (above) is one of the rooms I adore because it fills me up, which is why it was chosen. So I think I’ll write a post on finding my style in a few weeks. I want to get some projects in too.