It doesn’t look like much from the outside. A porch chair my macbook, a cold drink sweating on the little side table. Ducks floating by below, pelicans landing with all the grace of toddlers learning to walk. But for me, this is where it begins. Creativity, restoration, peace they all seem to arrive when I sit still long enough to let them catch up with me.

I used to think creativity looked like a burst. A sudden flash of brilliance that demanded you drop everything and write the next great American novel or paint something worthy of a gallery wall. But now I’ve learned it’s much quieter than that. Creativity looks like sitting on my porch with my macbook open. It looks like reading books slowly, letting one sentence sink deep instead of racing to finish a chapter.

Right now, it’s journaling through Shauna Niequist’s Celebrate Every Day. Soon it will be The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life by Suleika Jaouad. The books aren’t the point exactly they’re just the next gentle nudge, the next place to sit and listen. It’s not about having the answers or even writing something brilliant. It’s about tending to my mind and my spirit the way you tend to a garden: water a little, sit in the sun, wait.

Of course, every good porch practice needs a companion drink. Lately, it’s this—a little strange, a little wonderful, perfectly salty and sweet.

Dill Pickle Lemonade

What You Will Need:

What You Will Need To Do:

Stir the lemonade mix and sugar into the cold water until dissolved. Add the pickle brine, ice cubes, and garnish with a pickle spear for good measure. Sip slowly. Think creatively. Watch the pelicans.

Supporting my creativity looks less like chasing inspiration and more like building spaces where it feels welcome to land. It looks like sitting still, writing a sentence that may go nowhere, or reading a page that might change everything. It looks like slowing down enough to notice the world and trust that there’s time to write about it later.

Maybe creativity doesn’t come from doing more. Maybe it grows from doing the same simple things every day with great love. A journal. A porch. A funny little drink with pickle brine and ice cubes. All of it is practice. All of it matters.

So today I’m asking you:
How do you support your creative work? How do you care for your mind and spirit?

Whatever it looks like porch or park bench, pages or playlists may you find your place of peace. And may it feed the part of you that longs to create.

Gracefully yours,

Help keep the words flowing and the stories brewing.
Buy Me a Coffee

Reference
Niequist, S. (2024). Celebrate Every Day. Zondervan.
Styles, H. (2022). Matilda. On Harry’s House [Album]. Columbia Records.