Create-Ish

Jumping out of January

January 29, 2026

This month has been heavy. It’s been a struggle to stay present and stay in my body. My nerves are on edge and my mind is racing like someone pulled a thousand fire alarms inside of my vessel. Between mommying and the sate of the world, I find myself darting around trying to keep busy even when my body is screaming SIT DOWN and REST. Then, the seasonal blues put all my simple joys up on the highest shelf and they keep hiding my step ladder from me. I’m all for character development but my avatar signing up for and training for a spiritual triathlon wasn’t on my bingo card for this year.

I am challenged daily but I have been making effort to come back to creative and mindful practices. Some days are chaotic and others go smoothly, but I try my best to meet myself where I’m at and return to myself. Making rituals out of the things that allow me to be in a flow state.

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Puzzles

I read a couple of months ago that doing puzzles reduced your risk of dementia and cognitive decline and decided then that it would be a hobby I’d pick up. I’ve been getting ones that catch my eye at the thrift store. I have two that I completed this month, pictured below. My sweet spot has been a 300 piece puzzle. It’s definitely been helping me put my phone down and allow my gears to turn.

Coloring Pages

Last year, I bought myself a huge Ohuhu marker set and a couple of coloring books. Coloring is so child like and calming for me. It’s something I can do with my hands as I watch tv or listen to a podcast because it doesn’t require too much concentration for me. Here are a few of the pages I’ve finished this month.

Pinterest Collages

The collage feature on Pinterest is so much fun. It’s like virtual junk journaling for me. They also have an app called Shuffles that is entirely for making collages. Sometimes I have an idea or a theme in mind before creating while other times I’m just throwing paint at the walls and seeing what sticks. I have one pictured that I used to promote an earlier substack post and the second was just a random burst of creative time.

DIY

I love a good DIY project. This month (January) I made my own mouthwash. One of my on again off again special interests are herbs. And I learned recently how beneficial cloves are to dental health. The glass bottles are from Home Goods. The cloves, cinnamon sticks, and distilled water I got from the grocery store. The mouth wash is strong but not too harsh. It also helps with pain relief. I made enough for my family and I’ll definitely be making it again.

Playing in Makeup

Although I’m not that skilled at applying make up, I do enjoy playing around with it. I want to get better at application and experimenting with colors, styles, and trends. I find so much inspiration from Pinterest and Tik Tok. It is often intimidating to me because I feel so bad at it compared to the artists I see. But every time I allow myself to play, it takes my mind off things and I’m actually having fun. It takes me back to when I was 10 or 11 with my first makeup kit. The first picture is of my childhood best friend and I playing in makeup as kids and the second picture is of myself a couple of weeks ago.

Music and Dancing

I want to fall back in love with music. Once upon a time, I used to be obsessed with finding the perfect songs, discovering new artists, and creating the perfect playlists for different moods I was in. I could be in my room for hours dancing and singing my heart out. And I used to love burning CDs and gifting them to my loved ones. I feel like adulthood can make life go by so fast where you’re just on autopilot. Some days, I realize at the end of it that I haven’t listened to music at all that day. And it’s been weeks since I danced. This year I want to rebuild my relationship to music and my body. One of the ways I’m doing so is by making playlists again. Throughout the month, if I hear a song that feels good in my body, I try to remember to add it to a playlist. Instead of handing you a CD I burned just for you, here is playlist I made for January. Hope you enjoy ❤️

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