It can be a challenge living with a creative head. Ideas accumulate and it gets messy up there. It can be hard living with the house work too. It also accumulates. Some things have to go. So here’s one thing I don’t do. I don’t do ironing!
Exciting, vibrant, attention grabbing creativity is always more appealing than house work. So as the linen basket repeatedly (and rudely) insists on filling up and each meal needing to be cooked and prepared comes around, action must be taken and harsh realities faced. Put simply – ‘I must create, it’s my default position, but housework needs to be done as well.’
When I was knee deep in mothering 3 small children, running my home and creative business, there came a moment when the chaos of it all threatened to swallow me up. The first thing I noticed was that nobody else flagged up my impending doom or warned me that I was teetering on the edge of domestic calamity. I am a super smiler and tend to focus on the positives so nobody really knew how much I was struggling. I had to recognize it for myself. I packed my bags for a 2 day escape and ran back to my Mum’s for a rest! Well, not a complete rest – because there was work to do be done. Another creative work. How do I ‘creatively’ manage my crazy life?!
There was quite a bit of crying and teeth gnashing at first. Then there was praying and wrestling and finally resting in God’s Presence. There had to be an answer. With the reassuring and brain benefitting presence of paper and pencil, I set about writing a ‘Mum manifesto.’ It couldn’t look like anyone else’s because no other human being was living the life I was living. But the principles of work and rest embedded within it were as solid and time worn as creation itself. I found such a joy and satisfaction in working out what this looked liked with my Daddy God.
I am learning to live as a passionate Mother and homemaker, alongside my creative drive. It certainly makes for a bumpy ride. I am grateful for friends who are less chaotic. One of my closest friends is ‘neat and tidy, tidy and neat.’ I can walk into her home at any time and nothing is out of place. You can see that anything needing to find its place is already making the journey via the hover or the dishwasher currently being loaded. I love her house. It brings me calm. Mostly because she lives a life of love and prayer and being with her settles me, bringing me peace and a Godly perspective. I drive back up the hill to my own home, knowing I am accepted, loved and known, despite having a busy, creative head.
So how do I deal with the washing? Well, I empty the linen basket most days so it doesn’t get too monstrous. I wash it and take it out the of machine as quickly as possible to save creases. Giving everything a good shake – it then goes straight on the line, or onto the drying rack over my range, or if I’m desperate – into the tumbler. Here’s the key – after drying – you fold it straight away – so it stays nice and flat.
That’s how I get away with not doing the ironing. It’s one little time saving device making more room for creative ‘playtime.’