Why I Love Valentine's Day Plus an Invitation to Creative Self-Care

I love Valentine’s Day. It’s probably not cool to admit this, but I do. Valentine’s Day is supposed to be tacky. It’s a non-holiday invented to sell greeting cards, candy and flowers. Right?

Maybe. But I love it. I’ve always loved it. February doesn’t have much going for it, so I leap at any chance to celebrate. And a celebration of love? Really, what’s better?

It can be lonely if you don’t have someone special to celebrate with, but I think a love-themed celebration is a good reminder to love and care for yourself.

I have a note in my studio that says: Creativity is Self-Care.

It truly is. Taking time to be creative is good for our hearts. It helps during dark times. It brings us back to ourselves.

Looking for joy and keeping Joy Lists is another form of self-care that has helped me over the years. Joy and beauty exist even in the darkest times. If we don’t make a point to paying attention, we’ll miss them.

In my interview on the Craft Industry Alliance Podcast, I mentioned that I use oracle cards as part of my journaling practice. It’s been fun and nurturing. The decks are beautiful and they’re a wonderful tool for introspection. As I was brainstorming a new online class around creativity as self-care, something clicked and I had the idea of making an inspiration deck as a tool for creative self-care.

I had such fun creating the class. In part because I was also creating my own deck.

I wanted the whole process to be nurturing and fun and easily customizable so every student is able to create something just for them.

As I worked on my class, I even tried out my deck, pulling a card with a sketchbook prompt.

It had been a while since I’d done anything fun in my sketchbook. Now even more ideas are flowing.

Creativity IS self-care. And over the years I’ve found that the more time I spend being creative, the more creativity and inspiration expand.

Perhaps Valentine’s Day weekend is the perfect excuse to give yourself the gift of creativity. Whatever that means to you. Whether you make a date with your art supplies, pick up a long-forgotten project or take time to learn something new.

I’d love for you to join me in my new class, which is now available on Skillshare (wondering what Skillshare is and how it works? Read this post).

Whatever you decide to do for yourself this weekend, make it good.