Making Lists as a Creative Practice

Ideas for list-making, artists to discover, and tips for staying afloat when fighting a sickness.

Happy Monday, and welcome to Feeling! Magazine’s Monday Letter! This is a once-weekly letter made to feel like a magazine flip-through, purposefully designed to help you feel joy.

March 2: LISTING + LOGGING

As a young teenager, I was obsessed with a very specific section of my local craft store. I would beg my mom to take me to Joann Fabric (rest in true and complete peace, Joann) and gawk at the aisle adjacent to the scrapbook section. This trendy brand emerged, called “Smash*Book,” a timely, hipster response to modern scrapbooking.

Gone were the carefully measured and cut pages of our mother's baby books — this was a scrapbook book with flair. Every page was blank but themed and ready for you to decorate. There were no rules. You could cut lines that were not straight, scribble on details, and collage until you couldn’t see the page!

Packs of glue sticks, striped washi tape, and cut-outs filled my summers of only-child bliss, as I’d sit for hours making pages, completely content. I found the Listography Books and Wreck This Journal all around the same time. I don’t know what to call this specific pocket of creative genre that was prevalent at the time, but it really did have a lifelong impact on me, as a person.

A child with a propensity to perfectionism, nervous to play piano notes wrong, spell something wrong, or read a word wrong in class, discovers blank pages she can fill with whatever she thinks. I found a safe place to try things out, and in that safety, my creative perfectionism was put to rest. I have maintained freedom from perfectionism as a grown-up, miraculously, and I credit the summer of the “Wreck This Journal.”

It was the summer when I played creatively, safely, until I gained enough confidence to share. That’s the magic of the inside of notebooks: they are totally safe.

Treasured creative possesions from childhood. Note: I haven't won an Oscar yet, but I have worked on an iPad in Starbucks.

Last month, I was working on illustrations for my first published book, and the deadline coincided with a family trip. So I spent a good amount of the weekend drawing diligently, but trying to be present too. My niece is seven, and trying to figure out why I get to draw for my job. It looks like I am playing, and she understandably has a hard time believing me when I say I’m busy with work, but drawing dogs in scarves. She settled next to me, just to watch the pen strokes quietly; wobbly matcha mugs, quirky blooms from odd-shaped vases. After a while, she said about my drawing, “It’s not perfect.”

I then got to fully embody the cool-aunt-that-lives-in-New-York-wearing-a-black-turtleneck, toss my hair to the side, look in her little eyes, smile, and say, “Perfect is so boring!”

It’s true that, as grown-ups, we must unlearn many things taught in childhood. And for many, perfectionism in our creativity still has a chokehold. The words and images in our heads won’t come out because they are scared to perform under such scrutiny.

I have one big tip on how to help shake us out of this.

Make lists.

It’s natural for our brains to do, but it’s also a creative secret weapon. Utilize lists as resources for inspiration, memories, and ideas. Keep ongoing logs as a resource for you to jumpstart creativity. I think perfectionism makes getting started the hardest part, but lists will give your ideas a starting place, and your thoughts a safe place to land.

Your lists and logs can be stored in a trusty notebook, your notes app, or on scraps of paper. It’s just for you, so you can be as messy as you’d like. They are also ongoing — you can start lists and add to them forever. Here are some list prompts to build out your collection:

• Joy log: a list of truly joyful moments and memories, when your heart feels fullest

• Scent log: a list of smells that inspire you (especially fun to add to during travel)

• Love log: precious words, moments, and things exchanged between you and someone you love

• Beverage log: a list of coffee or tea shops you’ve tried, and what you ordered/thought

• Outfit log: when you have a day you feel really well-dressed, add it to a list with exactly what you wore (for reference on an uninspired day)

• Movie log: an ongoing list of movies you watched and your favorite quotes, scenes, or visuals

• Book log: an ongoing list of books you’ve read, what stood out to you

• Inspiration log: a list of things (with accompanying sketches or photos) that you see out and about in the world that strike a creative idea for you

• Friend log: memories with friends that lit your heart up, all in one big list

• Dinner log: a list of what you cooked for dinner (when it was a hit!)

• Hope log: whenever you feel a twinge of hope for something to come, write it in a list.

• Stranger log: a list of both pleasant and strange interactions with strangers

Now, be like a beaver and start making logs a priority in your creative life.

Also, The Moon Lists is one of my favorite places to find journal prompts and lists!

Today, I am sharing a brief list of visual artists whose work feels like a warm hug:

• Amanda Cullin and her colorful, whimsical world of animal characters

• Alexa Grambush paints vibrant colorscapes that make your brain go “husssshhh”

• Phthalo Ruth evokes the same feelings I get when reading really wonderful children’s books — pure magic!

• Mazzal Studio’s black and white illustrations with too many dogs to count.

• Mary Lockin makes geometic, gradient paintings that feel just right.

• Angela Kirkwood illustrates vibrant, colorful, quirky characters.

✸ Business Insider interviewed me about whimsy. Like, the Business Insider. About “whimsy.” Can you believe it?!

✸ I wrote this for people who tend to beat themselves up.

✸ Here are some color palette ideas for an upcoming project you have (or a Google Calendar refresh)!

✸ This is a very colorful guide to setting the table properly, as taught by Emily Post.

✸ Here is a brand index for more colorful tableware, because life is too short to have boring plates.

I am writing today like the bunny in Goodnight Moon. I am cozy, but I am sick and very over it. You know when you catch something that just won’t go away? When it gets so bad and so prolonged that you start remembering with fondness when you used to wake up and could breathe through your nose?

When I am down and out for a while, I start to get really antsy. So I asked readers of Feeling! for their best advice about truly feeling better despite being sick. How do you embrace the sickness while staying upbeat?

As per usual, you all are the kindest, most thoughtful, and creative bunch on the internet. So the answers were kind, thoughtful, and creative, too.

You sent over some amazing thoughts that I recommend saving for later:

✸ haley larsen, phd said: “I watch *When Harry Met Sally* in my bed with a hot pack & sleep all day long. When I’m in a flare-up from chronic illness, I also like to make a list of things I’m looking forward to — a sweater I am excited to wear, the stretch of the park I am excited to see in bloom, etc. It’s nice to have something to look forward to.”

✸ Heidi shared: “For me, I keep nice bone broths stocked for the inevitable case when I do get sick. When I feel myself getting sick (and I know it’s going to get worse), I upfront get into comfies, clear my schedule, and make any apologies necessary for cancelling plans. Clearing my schedule and proactively managing expectations helps me take the time I need to feel better without feeling a sense of urgency to get ‘back to normal.’”

✸ Ali said: "A long, hot bath followed by a fresh, clean pajama set is always soothing. I don’t know what it is about a matching PJ set, but I learned in middle school that matching PJs make me feel like I have my life together, and (apart from a brief stint in college of sleeping in sorority t-shirts) I have been a set girl since then. Another thing I will do is put a few servings of soup in the freezer whenever I make a big batch of soup. The next time I’m feeling down, I can just put premade homemade soup in the crockpot and have a comfort meal ready to go. Clean sheets and an early bedtime (maybe with a new, fun book to read to make everything seem a little happier) also go a long way. And never underestimate calling your mom, even as an adult.”

✸ Steph said, “I try to enact a ‘poorly day protocol’ with the aim of doing the following without shame. Ideally, line up some nourishing foods, but depending on the situation, delivery might have to do (or help supplement groceries). Some kind of treat or something comforting is a good idea too. I’ve been poorly this week, and a crumpet with chocolate spread on it with a cup of tea was genuinely the highlight of the day! Shower/bath and fresh pajamas when it feels doable. Watch something mindless, wholesome, or funny on TV (I don’t normally watch TV during the day). Sleep as much as needed. Shower/bath again to reset. If it’s a few days of illness, then fresh air always feels good. All pressure off to reply to any messages or do ‘jobs.’”

✸ Emily Ellison said: “I take a ‘nothing shower’ — where I get in the shower and let myself just sit in the hot, steamy water and relax every muscle in my body. Then I set up my bedside table for everything I might need: a book, phone charger, chapstick, drinking water, tissues, cough drops…you name it! Having everything close by so I don’t need to get up for something is very calming for me.”

✸ Tami Carey shared: “I try to recreate the nostalgic comfort of the sick day packs my childhood library would assemble: a cozy book, our favorite movies, some coloring pages, hot tea in a big steamy mug. Mostly, I try to tuck myself into soft, clean pajamas and blankets and channel that feeling of being safe and cared for. (Also a hot bath!).”

✸ Hannah wisely shared: “Number one overarching mindset shift for anyone who struggles with the slow down that’s necessary when being sick: Guilt-free rest. Slow down. Being sick is not a moral failure. You don’t have to have earned rest. You need rest because you’re human. Be gentle toward yourself.”

✸ Erin Hoover shared: “I was sick last week! We have a shower lamp (highly recommend), so taking a long shower in the dark with just your shower lamp is the most relaxing way to shower and really helps your body and mind. Then, watching comfort movies bundled up. I also love listening to an audiobook of a book I’ve read (so it’s okay to fall asleep). Sometimes, even watching a movie is too much for the eyes, so it’s a way to mini drift into a story without effort and then allow yourself to drift off completely.”

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If you are feeling down, I hope this brightened your day and that you feel better soon!

There were many more wonderful and wise recommendations in the chat, if you’d like to keep reading here:

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Thank you, Hailey Howe, for your lovely work on Feeling! Magazine Graphics! You made this Monday Letter magical!

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