This photo of an elephant inspired my co-worker to make a secret confession
Art inspiration for busy 9–5 workers: quick, low-pressure ways to build a creative habit (even without inspiration)
The other day I was sitting at my desk at work and one of my coworkers walked up behind me to look at my screensaver.
He stared at it a minute, then asked me if it was a photograph or a drawing.
I told him it was a photo. I’d found it on a stock photo site and randomly downloaded it because elephants are my favorite animal.
He wasn’t so sure.
I think he wanted to believe it was a drawing.
He then began a brief monologue about some of the amazing artists he’s seen who can create life-like images on a piece of paper using only a pencil.
He looked at my screen again and, under his breath, like he was confessing a small sin, remarked that he wished he could do THAT, instead of “plonking numbers into a spreadsheet all day.”
I chuckled and went back to my work.
But in retrospect, I should have turned to him and shouted: “YOU CAN! YOU’RE FREE!”
(If you can’t tell, I have a bit of a latent dramatic streak hahaha.)
But maybe you can relate to my coworker.
I’m lucky that my job takes up almost no space in my brain. I am most definitely NOT plonking numbers into a spreadsheet.
When I press the elevator “down” button at 4:59 every day, my job is over until 9:00 AM the next morning. I know that’s not the case for most people.
So I get why he can’t devote hours of his life to creating photorealistic drawings of animals.
But could he do something on a smaller, less ambitious scale?
Could he take a Paint-n-Sip class one night?
Couldn’t he doodle in a notebook on the train into work?
Maybe, like me, he could buy a beginner watercolor set and see what happens?
Art seems so out of reach for most people, I think. It feels intimidating, or like too much of a commitment.
I consider myself a highly creative person, but there are days when I don’t feel “inspired”, or a project feels too daunting. So I get it.
But while we might not all be able to master the art of photorealistic pencil drawing, I believe that if you feel the urge to CREATE something - DO IT!
So…
What’s your take on my coworker’s desire to create something?
What would you tell him?
What’s something you make time to create?
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