Does your personal creativity have to die when you are a mom?

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Does your personal creativity have to die when you are a mom?

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What's my advice for staying creative when you have children? So I'm a writer. And I did think that once I had children it would be way more difficult to write, to find time for myself, to make stuff up and to take that time that you think you need to craft something. And what I found was actually the opposite. And part of it is that romantic idea about children that they're so wonderful and beautiful that they inspire creativity. and maybe part of that is true. But I will say that they also do give you a ton of material. They made me think about so many things I hadn't thought of. And after I had kids was when I really really started to publish a lot more and write a lot more. I started a blog. I wrote a book, edited an anthology about them. I've written plays and lots of essays and articles. And I think the big thing about kids is that because your time becomes so limited, you get really good at seizing whatever time you have and going for it. So if your baby goes down for an hour and half for a nap, you grab that hour and a half and you just get to it. If there's 15 minutes before the sitter's time is up, you take it. And I just found that I became much better at taking those times than when I thought I had all the time in the world. And then the other thing I would do is when you are with your kids, take inspiration from them. Play with them, make stuff up with them. If they're sitting there with the Play-Doh, get in there, make the castle with your own fingers. If they're sitting there drawing with crayons, make your own stuff and be part of their process. And I think that process also influences your work. So I don't think having a baby is going to kill anyone's creative life. It could really inspire it instead.
ALL PARENTS, Parenting

Watch Susan Goldberg, MA's video on Does your personal creativity have to die when you are a mom?...

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Susan Goldberg, MA

Author & Blogger

Susan Goldberg is a writer, editor, essayist and blogger, and coeditor of the award-winning anthology And Baby Makes More: Known Donors, Queer Parents, and Our Unexpected Families. Her writing has been featured on the CBC and the Globe and Mail, in Ms., Lilith, and Stealing Time magazines, and several anthologies, including the forthcoming Chasing Rainbows: Exploring Gender-Fluid Parenting Practices. Susan is a contributing blogger at Today’sParent.com and VillageQ.com. In 2012, she was chosen as one of BlogHer’s Voices of the Year. She’s currently (always) working on a novel, called Step on a Crack, and on Overflow, a one-woman performance piece about lingerie and breast cancer. Susan lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with her partner and their two sons.

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