After making steamed vegetables for my baby’s latest food, I start laundry and the methodical process of sorting. Now I don’t sort by colors, I sort by heaviness, with my husband’s going in last because his are extra dirty from work and need a heavy-duty wash. I’m on my 3rd load of clothes in the wash (we have a tiny apartment washer), and the little dryer is making its rounds as I hear buttons hit the side as the clothes turn. My coffee is less than lukewarm, but my baby is taking his first nap of the day, and my 4-year-old is settled into his learning path on ABC Mouse. It has been a busy morning. So what if nothing about this moment needed to change for it to feel magical?
The Myth About Creativity You’ve Been Told
You might think your inner voice is lacking creatively as you go through each day, doing the same repetitive tasks that never end. What you might not realize is that as you move throughout the day, you make a million small decisions that untangle daily knots. That’s creativity.
With social media moving towards 30-second reels, it can often feel daunting to see the illusion of being fast or having it all together. It can also feel discouraging to watch something turn out beautiful in such a short rendition. The truth is, those reels can take hours, days, or weeks to be made, but you only see that little snippet.
Being creative is something that everyone has the ability to be because, if we break it down, it’s just responding to a need. It may seem like an unnecessary design dilemma, but if you look at it as tending to a need, you’re already taking the first step.
You don’t need a huge project to work on; you just need a tiny puzzle to solve and have fun doing it. Need a throw pillow for the couch? Make it. Need extra icing for your cake? Make it. Need a designer-styled photo but can’t spend the money? Do it yourself.
Creativity isn’t an event. It’s attention with intention.
From Mundane Moments to Meaningful Magic
Now you might be thinking, it’s really not that easy… but what if it is? When we notice a point of friction, we can choose what to call it. Instead of a problem, maybe it’s an invitation?
When you have any challenge in life, you meet it, so meet your challenge with an imaginative frame of mind. Instead of a boring “we need a curtain for the window,” think “how can I make a curtain for the window? Should it be basic, or should I be adventurous? What if it’s quilted!?”
Then the gears in your mind start turning, and suddenly you have more ideas than you expected.
My Recent “Ah Ha!” Moment
So this was my recent “Ah ha!” moment. With the drastic cold we’ve had since the new year, my husband and I needed to add an extra covering to our windows to keep some of the freezing air out. Now we have to do this every year, and we haven’t installed permanent curtains (I don’t know why). This year I thought, what could we use that could be put up and taken down over our window AC units?
That question led to my current crafting project.
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The curtain isn’t finished. It might sit half-done for months. But the act of beginning it turned a seasonal frustration into something creative.
The magic wasn’t in hanging it. The magic was in deciding to try.
Now I tend to spiral into a craft to solve the original need I started with, and that’s ok too. I highly recommend writing down your focal point so you don’t end up buying, using, or veering away from the original challenge you are trying to solve.
What Happens When You Bring Creativity to Small Moments
Now hold that thought, what if I have too much to do already? Why would I add yet another task to my never-ending list of chores around the house? If you can set aside 30 minutes to solve the small snag you noticed, you are not taking away from anything else that needs to be done already.
You are adding a moment where time slows down for you to catch your breath. You are adding a space for your imagination to flow. You are adding pieces of yourself into your day-to-day activity.
The more you pay attention with intent, you’ll begin to notice small changes in your outlook, how you approach a puzzle, and how you then untangle that knot. Your million mini solutions grow, but you also get to shine through your day.
You’ll also bring light to other tasks that may seem so mundane and utterly depressing before that now seem more like a moment to breathe, think, and pause.
Your Invitation to Everyday Magic
I invite you to notice with intent. Take stock of what’s around you and the constant solutions you make daily. See if you can add an imaginative solution to one of your small snags today.
What small moment did you notice today that let your inner light shine?
Not everything has to be extraordinary to matter. Sometimes the magic is already here, waiting for us to look a little longer.
From my road to yours, happy wandering.
Wandering Texan Journal 
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