the unhinged drama of a book nerd

It’s Summer Reading season and I’m here with an update on Week 1 of my own personal, self imposed summer reading challenge.

(if you missed my original post about my summer reading, you can find that here)

Some links (including all Amazon links) are affiliate links.

I’m going to be super honest with you: I’m totally obsessed with this summer reading list. Completely nerding out over it. 

Most readers know that reading is not usually ONE hobby. For most of us, it’s many hobbies collected under the mega-category of READING.

Obviously there’s reading books.  But there’s also:

Talking about books

Researching books (looking up new releases, listening to podcasts about books, following bookish people on the internet to find new books)

Adding to the TBR

Taking books off the TBR (does anyone do this? I’d really like to start but so far I can only figure out how to add books)

Planning what to read next

Organizing books

Buying books

Playing the library holds/waitlist game

Finding ways to turn reading into a game (book bingo, challenges, list making and completing)

So this summer reading list project is tapping into my bookish nerdiness in an organized way that I really haven’t done in a while. And I’m loving it.

What did this week look like in Summer Reading List Land?  I’m so glad you asked.

I finished a book! 

Is this a Cry for Help by Emily Austin is my first completed book off my summer reading list. 

Here’s the gist: A librarian experiences a bumpy return to work after taking time off due to a mental health crisis. She grapples with community outrage over library policies, her wife being away from home, and the unexpected curveballs of daily life, all while processing deep grief and reflecting on how her imperfect past led her to her current life. 

The way the details of this book are dripped out left me constantly curious for more (like, what’s the deal with the library patron who keeps emailing to ask about birds??). 

Plus seeing the world from a public librarian’s viewpoint made me even more supportive of the work they do.

I’m currently reading:

There lives a Young Girl in Me who Will Not Die by Tove Ditlevson

Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD by Susan C Pinsky 

The Art Spy by Michelle Young*

* Ok, this one isn’t on the summer reading list. 

I know what you’re thinking.  “One week in and she’s already gone rogue” but I SWEAR that’s not it. 

This book was already on my holds list  for Libby audiobooks.  When I finished my last audiobook, I was at the top of the list for this one.  There were about 2 days left before I officially kicked off my summer reading, so as any rational reader would do I clicked “unsuspend” thinking I’d get the book right away and be done in two days.  (Please don’t tell me this is unrealistic.  I don’t need that kind of pessimism in my life).  Besides, all my summer reading list audiobooks had waitlists.

But then I didn’t get the book right away.  “Availabile soon” sometimes means you get the book in 10 minutes.  In this case it meant I got it 3 days later. 

So now it’s been a week and I’m 50% through and the summer reading list will have to wait because I’m soooooo disciplined.  (Well, actually none of my other books are available yet, but whatever, let’s just agree that I’m showing amazing self restraint). 

Speaking of waitlists…

There are a few books I already own or that are already loaded onto my (supposedly no longer supported) Kindle.  The rest I plan to get from the library.  So this week I placed holds on everything. 

Well, everything except Whistler.  Ann Patchett is narrating that one herself, so I want to listen to the audiobook.  But for some reason the audiobook is still not showing up in Libby.  I ended up placing a hold on the ebook as a backup.  But I’ll keep checking back.

If you love the thrill of a waitlist watch (seriously some of the best dopamine I get is from checking on my library holds), I’ve posted my place in line over on Instagram and I’ll be updating that weekly.  I’m pretty optimistic that I’ll get most of the books this summer.  But there’s a couple that are gonna be nailbiters. 

But waitlists and library holds are bringing the DRAMA already because Fatherland by Robert Harris has been “in transit” for over a week and has yet to show up at my library.  Where is it?!?  How long will it take to get to my branch?!?!?  Is it lost?!?!?!? Do I place another hold on a different copy?!!?!!  

It’s almost too much excitement to handle.

(Yes, I’m being sarcastic.  But I’m not totally joking.  These last weeks of the school year have been INTENSE and I’m happy to have some self imposed/self generated bookish drama.) 

In other news, I finished 6 books in May, so I’m feeling like I have a chance at finishing my whole summer reading list!   Have you started your summer reading yet?

I want a summer reading list... and a personal pan pizza reward

Sometimes all it takes is a list to bring back those youthful feelings of having all the time in the world to read.

Some links (including all Amazon links) are affiliate links.

When I was younger I LOVED getting the summer reading list from school.  One required reading book plus a list of suggestions. I got to go to the bookstore and pick out a few new books and then I spent the summer reading, reading, reading.  

I read all the time and everywhere.  In fact, I read so much that I didn’t even know how to get to our local swimming pool because the second I was buckled in the car my nose was in a book.  (The directions were: pull out of the driveway, go 2 blocks, make a left, go two blocks, it’s on the right.  ONE TURN!!)

Anyway, as an adult I’ve always appreciated summer reading guides put together by different bookish bloggers and podcasters and bookstagrammers I follow, most especially the top notch Summer Reading Guide put together by Modern Mrs. Darcy.

Part of what makes the Modern Mrs. Darcy guide so fun is that they go all out.  The guide itself is beautiful with a magazine style layout that includes not just the new releases being recommended but also backlist suggestions,  (I usually get the pdf but there IS an option to get a physical copy). And they have an official “unboxing” that walks you through every single title on the list. 

Last week was the unboxing and after I’d watched and decided what to add to my TBR, I found myself considering not just which books from the guide I wanted to read sooner rather than later, but making myself a more comprehensive, personalized summer reading list based on books I have on my shelf, books I’ve been meaning to read, and whatever else felt like it would fit nicely into a summer reading experience.

The end result was a list of 18 books - some new, some old - that, for one reason or another, seemed to fit my idea of what Summer Reading should look like for me in 2026.

My plan is to to kick off on Memorial Day and finish up on Labor Day (though, truth be told, I’ve already started one of the books) and see how many I actually read. 

Can I actually finish 18 books this summer?

Will I be disciplined and stick to the list or get distracted by shiny new things and abandon this list entirely?

Those are my big questions going into this experiment.  If you’re interested in updates, I’ll be posting them over on Instagram. 

For now, here’s my summer reading lineup and a bit about why/how these books made the cut.  (You can also see the whole list in one place on my Bookshop.org)

Light summer reads - on my physical TBR

These are books I already own that seemed like the right vibe for the summer.  Since becoming a mom I’ve leaned heavily on audiobooks for my reading but this year I’ve been working hard to build back my physical book endurance - both for ebooks and physical books, but even more so for physical books.  It’s been going really well and I’m finding myself choosing to read in a lot more moments than I was before.  

Beach Read by Emily Henry

I LOVE Emily Henry and this year she does not have a new book coming out (though Big, Beautiful Life is out in paperback now if you missed that one).  This is the only Emily Henry book I haven’t read yet, I happen to have a copy on my shelf (likely picked up from a Free Little Library) and the title makes it an obvious pick for a summer reading list.

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

Up next is Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez.  If you’re wondering how this book got moved from the shelf to the shortlist- it’s right there in the title. Again, I think I found this in a Free Little Library.  I haven’t read anything by Abby Jimenez, but she often gets recommended alongside other authors I love so I think it’s time to check her out.  My only hesitation is that this is book 3 in the Part of Your World series and I’m hoping that doesn’t matter. 

First-time caller by B.K. Borison

I picked this up during my Mother’s Day trip to the bookstore.  I’ve seen it recommended a bunch and it seems fun, so I’m going for it.  

Physical Books from the Library

Is this a Cry for Help? By Emily Austin

Every year we play Book Bingo with a group of friends.  We’ve got a LONG list of categories, my husband randomizes them and makes individual bingo cards for everyone, and then we get reading.  It’s a really fun way to get out of your reading comfort zone, take a more whimsical approach to choosing your next book, and get that “Pizza hut prize” feeling when you get a bingo.  (No, there is not an actual pizza prize, but we do get to type BINGO into our chat and that is also fun.)  I don’t remember anything about this book or why I put it on my TBR but my book bingo card has “Book with a question as the title” for one of the squares, so here we go.

Fatherland by Robert Harris

I recently decided that I can’t keep adding books to my TBR unless I start taking some off.  So I tried to take some off… and failed miserably.  New plan: read more books from the bottom of the TBR.  This book is a WW2 alternative history and it is the FIRST book I ever added to my electronic TBR (Goodreads at the time, but I’m on Fable now). I can’t bring myself to delete it, yet I’ve never read it. 

There Lives a young girl in me who will not die by Tove Ditlevsen

We are planning a trip to Copenhagen and as part of my trip prep, I’ve been reading books by Danish authors.  I did this before I went to Iceland and really loved the way it connected me to the place I was visiting so I’m doing it again.  I just finished Tove Ditlevsen’s memoirs - The Copenhagen Trilogy - and now I’m curious about her poetry.  Plus I like the idea of having a volume of poetry on my summer reading list to balance out all that light/fun/romance/fiction.

Audiobooks

Normally I listen to a lot of audiobooks.  I tend to choose audiobooks over podcasts, and they keep me company while driving, doing household chores, and crafting.  Summer can be a tricky time for audiobooks though, since my kids are home and there’s more activities and a more stop and go rhythm to our days, so I picked out 3 - one per month - which seems like a good goal to start with.  

Whistler by Ann Patchett 

I almost didn’t add this to my summer reading list because I worried it would be too literary for the season.  Could I get into this story?  Should I wait until fall? But Ann Patchett is great and she’s narrating this audiobook herself, so my curiosity is piqued and it’s on the list.  

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel

The premise here is that a 77 year old woman is pregnant.  I think this falls into the category of Magical Realism, which I keep trying and it keeps falling short of LOVE for me.  BUT this has been recommended as “great on audio” and when a book gets that recommendation sometimes I give it a chance when I wouldn’t otherwise.  Plus it’s got themes of bodily autonomy, reproductive rights, motherhood… maybe I will love this one.  Stay tuned.

Last night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez

Honestly, this was recommended as good on audio, it sounds like a fun romp, and that is a top qualifier for my summer reading apparently.  

Kindle Load Up

I recently got an email from Amazon saying that support for my (ancient) kindle was about to be discontinued.  So you know what I did?  Checked out as many ebooks as I could, downloaded them onto that kindle, and turned the WiFi off.  Now I’ve got about 20 books ready to go (I was able to use my library card AND my daughter’s).  I scanned through those titles and chose a few that felt good for summer.  Here they are:

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood

Does it matter that this is #2 in the series and I haven’t read #1? I hope not. It looks fun and I LOVED The Love Hypothesis, so I’m excited for this one.

Typewriter Beach by Meg Waite Clayton

I can’t remember when or how I added this to my TBR (this happens a lot… hence why my TBR is soooooo loooooong) but it got 3 things going for it:

#1 It’s got the word beach in the title

#2 It’s already loaded on my kindle

#3 I recently heard about and added a different book by Meg Waite Clayton to my TBR and so my interest in reading something by this author is temporarily high.

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

I remember my mom reading this when it came out. I’ve read tons of Judy Blume, but none of her novels for adults. I’m in my 40s now. I think it’s time.

The Rest of the list

The 6 remaining books include 5 suggestions from the Modern Mrs Darcy Summer Reading Guide and one book that’s not from the guide but IS a MMD recommendation.  These are the books I’m most likely to be excited about RIGHT NOW but then detour and read something else (likely that I hear about and then turn around to read immediately) because they haven’t been stuck in my consciousness for very long.  But one of the reasons that my reading life has been so good in the last few years is because I am doing a better job at curating who I take recommendations from, which makes my TBR a much better place to choose a book from than it used to be.  (Well, unless Fatherland turns out to be the best book I’ve ever read.  Then it turns out my TBR is a gold mine and I just don’t have time to read it all.)  

Organizing Solutions for people with ADHD by Susan C Pinsky

This one hit me at the right moment.  Downloaded the ebook immediately and am ready to spend some summertime getting organized. It wins the award for Most Practical Book on my summer reading list.

Main Characters by Bobby Palmer

This is a love story told from the perspective of everyone except the couple.  I love a book with multiple POV (like, even As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner which a lot of people apparently find annoying/frustrating/difficult) so I’m pretty excited for this one.

Sisters of a Halved Heart by Nayantara Roy

I’m hoping this one scratches the itch of being a deeply emotional and complex family drama. I love a book that makes me cry. Will this one gut me? I mean “halved heart”?? Bring on the tears.

Dolly all the time by Annabel Monaghan

I’d have to look it up to tell you what this one is about but I had it on my TBR BEFORE I saw it in the summer reading guide so it got bumped to the top.  Besides - look how summery that cover is! I think the first recommendation was for the audio version though so we’ll see how I decide to read this.

The fine art of lying by Alexandra Andrews

The One Day you were my husband by Rosie Walsh

My summer reading list needed some mystery & suspense.  These two books fill that gap.  

On the bench

It seems really unlikely at my current reading pace that I’ll be able to finish 18 books in 3ish months.  But just in case I need backups (don’t we always need backups) I’ve also got my eye on these:

Heart the Lover by Lily King

I’m seeing this recommended in a lot of places right now.  

Astral Library by Kate Quinn

It’s been a while since I read a Kate Quinn book.  I think this is a departure from her usual historical fiction and into fantasy.  But it’s about books and a library so I might LOVE IT. 

In Closing

It’s a lot of books. 20 books in 15 weeks. Though I guess the goal isn’t necessarily to finish them all. It’s to have a fun list of books I’m excited about reading this season. In that case, mission accomplished. Does that mean I can get my pizza now?

My Best Books of 2025 (aka mostly books that made me cry)

I tried something new! I did a video post instead of a blog post. You can find the video below and recap below that (it’s not exactly a transcript but it does include all the books mentioned in the video)

This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to buy through one, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for being here and supporting what I make.

Hi, I’m Jen Cleary. I’m the person behind Craft Dance Read Repeat, and today I decided to try something new: talking to you on video. Welcome to my craft room—yes, it’s a mess. If you’re crafty, you probably recognize this kind of mess. Can we just normalize messy, definitely NOT Pinterest perfect craft rooms please?

Originally, I planned to write a blog post about my favorite books I read in 2025. But every time I try to write about books—especially explaining why someone should read them—it turns stiff and academic, and honestly, that makes me want to read the book less. So instead, here we are. A video. Take three. (Or if you’re reading this, the edited version of what I said on video which is much better than if I had just written about the books in the first place.)

I read a lot, though “a lot” means different things to different people. For me, it’s under 50 books a year. When I was choosing which books to talk about, I filtered out anything I couldn’t remember at all. I forget plots and character names constantly, but I do remember how books made me feel. So these are the ones that stayed with me in some way.

I grouped them into a few completely arbitrary categories.

Books That Made Me Cry

I love crying at books. I find it cathartic and oddly enjoyable. I’ve been choosing books that make me cry on purpose since I was a teenager, back when I was reading a lot of Lurlene McDaniel and crying all the time.

One book that really got me this year was Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. She’s usually labeled as a contemporary romance writer, and for a long time I thought I didn’t like romance—until I read her books. This one felt a little different to me. The romance is there, but the story leans heavily into family secrets and the things we don’t talk about. That theme comes up a lot in my reading, apparently. I still think Funny Story might be my favorite Emily Henry if I had to choose, but I really loved this one.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4kUt3mK

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9780593441299

The next book in this category was Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. I read this for a book bingo category—something that had been turned into a series. This one has multiple timelines, family secrets, people escaping old lives to build new ones. It stuck with me deeply. I haven’t watched the series yet; I usually need some distance between finishing a book and watching the adaptation so I don’t get mad about the differences.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4kUt3mK

Bookshop:https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9780593358351

The last book in this category was Past Tense by Sasha Mardou, a graphic novel memoir about her experience with therapy—specifically Internal Family Systems. I’m fascinated by this approach, the idea that we have different parts of ourselves all trying to be heard, and that compassion is the way forward. Her story felt deeply relatable, human, and hard in a way that really stayed with me.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4ay4B77

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9780593541364

Deep Feels (Adjacent to Crying)

This category isn’t that far from crying, honestly.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach surprised me. It wasn’t what I expected at all. I thought it might be lighter or more romance-adjacent, but instead it felt deeply human—about small efforts, hard moments, and learning how to be yourself while moving through difficult things. There are mental-health themes here, so check content warnings if that’s important for you.

Amazon:  https://amzn.to/3OtVD2d

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9781250899576

Another book that lived in this emotional space was You Are Here by David Nicholls. It’s about working through your stuff so you can move forward and have better relationships. Quiet, thoughtful, and very human.

Amazon:  https://amzn.to/4kZR7EU

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9780063394063

And then there’s Wayward by Emilia Hart, which is quite different. It follows three women across three timelines and explores generational experiences, womanhood, power, and survival. It’s heavy in places but incredibly compelling.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4kZR7EU

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9781250842725

Nonfiction

I read a lot of nonfiction, especially memoir, and two very different books stood out.

Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong is a collection of essays by disabled writers. I value reading perspectives that are not my own, and this book offers a huge range of experiences and types of disability. It gave me insight without overwhelming me and made me want to keep learning.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4kZR7EU

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9781984899422

The other nonfiction pick is narrative nonfiction: The Ghosts of Eden Park by Karen Abbott. It’s about Prohibition, bootlegging, and a specific moment in American history, told in a way that reads like a novel. Abbott is incredible at this style. I recently recommended her book Sin in the Second City to friends as well—she’s one of my favorites at making history feel alive.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Mty214

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9780451498632

Poetry (A Return)

For a long time, I avoided poetry. My high-school English memories weren’t great, and I always felt like I “didn’t get it.” As an adult, I’ve been finding my way back in.

Two collections really stayed with me this year.

Evermore by Jessica Jocelyn is about privacy and motherhood, and it spoke to me immediately. This is what poetry feels like at its best—something that moves you and makes you feel less alone.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4aLZ7EN

The second is If My Body Could Speak by Blythe Baird. This one is hard and deals with difficult topics around the body. Poetry, for me, can hold these subjects in a way that prose can’t, and this collection did that beautifully.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4qSQvCe

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9781943735471

For Funsies

These are the books that were just fun to read—though some of them still made me cry.

The New One by Mike Birbiglia was funny, self-deprecating, and touching. I saw his show when I was pregnant with my oldest, and reading it later felt like revisiting something familiar.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4qSQvCe

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9781538701522

I also loved Back After This by Linda Holmes. It’s set in the podcasting world and blends romance with humor. I’ll always love Linda Holmes for introducing me to Eleanor & Park years ago, and I’ve really enjoyed her novels.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4s4JjUv

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9780593599259

Then there’s The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. I was very late to this one. For some reason, I thought it involved vampires? It does not. I loved it. And yes, I cried.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4cIbUKL

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9780593336823

Another fun favorite was Love You Mean It by Jillian Gagnon. I once shared a coworking space with her years ago, and I think it’s incredibly cool to read books by people you’ve met, even briefly. The book was fun and heartfelt, and I’d absolutely recommend it.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4tOVu9A

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/10712/9780593722961

A Final Note: The Ramona Books

Lastly, I want to mention the Ramona. I read some of them as a kid, but listening to them with my own children was a completely different experience. They are so funny. They sound exactly like the way kids think at each age, and they hold up beautifully. We listened to the audiobooks, and I would absolutely listen to them again.

That’s my best of 2025. My craft room is still a mess, but that’s okay. Maybe it will be better in the next video.

I'm skipping this in 2026

I’m not doing it this year.

It’s January 6 and every time I hop online i’m inundated with new year new you, the resolution you NEED this year, goals goals goals…

Every year for as long as I can remember, I have spent the days up to new years brainstorming all the things i want to DO in the upcoming year.  Setting goal after lofty goal.  On the surface it looks like me, aspiring to be my best self.  But underneath it’s always been about something else.  

Achieve.

Prove your worth.

Accomplish or you are a failure.

The pressure to be endlessly more productive has always felt like it came from within. But did it start that way?  Was I born this way?

This fall, on a distinctly summery day in early october I attended a wellness retreat with one of my favorite facilitators, Heather Fraelick.  It was called Radiant Transitions and over the course of the day we practiced healing movement modalities and processed ways to embrace the upcoming seasons.

This is not in my usual nature of go-go-go-do-do-do regardless of time of year, time of my cycle, or time of day.

But by the end of the day I was ready to try something different.

I decided to spend the winter slowing down.  

It’s kind of wild that in a season when the earth turns inward and rests, when the daylight is in short supply, and the temperature demands snuggling under blankets seeking comfort that it’s basically counter-cultural to do the same.  To resist the demands of endless productivity.  To not set goals.  To seek an entirely different experience of transformation.  

And so (just typing this has my heart squeezing tight and my tear ducts at the ready):

I am not setting goals this January.

And the more I think about it, the more I wonder how any of us can.

Autumn is bursting with holidays and family time and celebrations.  Personally I went from Thanksgiving travel to Christmas preparations to an untimely stomach bug (are those ever timely?) to full on family time.  The new year arrived in a wave of gratitude and exhaustion and complete lack of routine. 

Who can set goals in that state of being?

How is it possible to be in tune with my actual desires for the future in the wake of so much dysregulation?

Don’t get me wrong.  I felt the pull.

I’ve seen people making crafty goal oriented punch cards and designing gorgeous bullet journal pages and it is tempting!

When I couldn’t shake the drive to MAKE A PLAN for 2026, I opened my journal and started writing down all the goal-ish ideas.  Let them wash over me.  And decided that January 1 was not a starting line.

As a person who always desires progress while simultaneously attempting to recover from perfectionism, I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.  But more and more I want my accomplishments to be for myself instead of the respect or admiration or praise I might receive from others.  And rushing into a checklist for 2026 isn’t it.

Instead I’d like to spend the next few months testing out new ideas, minus the pressure of success.

I want to rest and create and share on my own timelines.

I want to reflect on some cool things I’ve seen over the last months and consider how I could incorporate them into my own life in a way that suits me.  And if they don’t, I want to toss those ideas out the window, trusting they aren’t for me.

Most importantly, I want to enter this new year gently.

The Biggest Challenges to Living a Creative Life (and How to Overcome Them) 🎨✨

What’s Your Biggest Challenge in Expressing Your Creativity? 🎨✨

Ever feel like creativity is just out of reach? Like you have ideas bubbling under the surface, but something always gets in the way?

When my oldest was born, I was swept up in the newborn phase, hyperfocused on being a mom, covered in spit up, with every other aspect of my identity on hold.  There were no dance classes for me to teach, my knitting projects felt overwhelming (I mean, I was knitting, just very very very slowly), and even getting dressed felt like an uninspired blur of nursing friendly clothes.  Yet, pretty quickly I felt a deep craving for creativity.  A need to express myself somehow.  So I started writing.  During the moments where I got a break (and probably should’ve immediately taken a nap), I would go to a room by myself and write.  And it felt so damn good. 

That experience taught me something important—creativity isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. And when we don’t have an outlet for it, we feel it deep in our bones.

Creativity doesn’t always flow freely, and roadblocks can make it hard to express ourselves the way we want to. But I believe creative expression is an integral part of the human experience and it’s important to our wellbeing to find ways to let our creativity shine.

So, what’s getting in the way of your creativity right now? Let’s explore some common obstacles and ideas for how to transform them into creative opportunities.

1. "I Want to, But Life is Busy!" – The Time Struggle 🕰️

Between work, family, and the never-ending to-do list, creativity often gets pushed to the bottom of our priorities. It’s easy to tell ourselves that we’ll “get to it later,” but later never seems to come.

Try this: Start small! Set a timer for 10 minutes and create something—anything. Doodle, dance, write a few lines, or play with a new idea. Treat it like an appointment with yourself. Creativity doesn’t require hours of free time; it just needs a little intention. Remember - even a one-minute dance party in your kitchen, putting together an outfit that sparks joy, or doodling an encouraging message on a post-it counts as creative expression!

2. "I Struggle to Stay Inspired." – The Motivation Challenge ⚡

Some days, creativity flows like a river. Other days, it feels like a dried-up well. Lack of motivation can stem from burnout, self-doubt, or simply feeling stuck in a routine.

Try this: Change things up! Experiment with a new medium, take a different route on your daily walk, visit a museum, or listen to a podcast about creativity. Surrounding yourself with inspiration can help reignite that spark. You could even spend some time looking at the world like you were just born yesterday—like Bandit in that Bluey episode where he pretends he doesn’t know anything and ends up in awe of a single leaf. Approach creativity with that same curiosity. What if you let go of expectations and just explored?"

3. "I’m Not Sure How to Start." – The Knowledge Gap 🧠

Ever feel like you don’t know enough to begin? Maybe you’ve wanted to try painting, making jewelry, or writing a story, but you’re intimidated by where to start. This fear of the unknown can keep us from even trying.

Try this: Embrace being a beginner. No one is an expert on day one! Look for beginner-friendly tutorials, take an online class, or join a community of learners. 

And for the love of it, give yourself permission to suck—seriously, make something awful. Who said it has to be good to count? Sometimes, just starting is the hardest part. Remember, every great artist, writer, or dancer started somewhere—why not start today?

4. "I Don’t Have the Right Tools or Space." – The Resource Dilemma 🛠️

Not having the “perfect” setup can feel like a major barrier. Maybe you don’t have an art studio, expensive materials, or the exact tools you think you need. But creativity isn’t about perfection—it’s about making the most of what you have.

Try this: Get resourceful! Use what’s available to you—try digital tools instead of physical ones, repurpose materials, or create in small spaces. Many great works of art were made in tiny apartments, kitchen tables, and notebooks carried in backpacks. Creativity thrives in unexpected places!

Breaking Through Creative Blocks

No matter what’s holding you back, there’s always a way forward. The key is to start where you are, use what you have, and trust the process. Here are a few small steps you can take today:
✅ Set aside just 10 minutes for creativity.
✅ Try something new to spark inspiration.
✅ Embrace being a beginner—just start!
✅ Make do with the resources you have.
✅ Think outside the box—small creative acts like a fun outfit, a quick doodle, or an impromptu dance count too!

Remember, creativity isn’t about being perfect—it’s about expressing yourself and finding joy in the process.

Join the Conversation!

What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to expressing your creativity? Drop a comment below and share a specific creative challenge or a creative success you’ve had recently! Let’s support each other and make creative expression a habit!

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