A Cocktail to Celebrate Create Anyway
Elizabeth Gilbert wrote in her book Big Magic about how she believes books find their writers, how if you show up to the work, the work will find you. It’s kind of giving Kevin Costner when he heard whispers in the corn fields “If you build it, they will come.”
When Ashlee Gadd first shared she was writing a book on creativity in the margins of motherhood, I knew what Liz meant. Ashlee was meant to write this book. If there is anyone who champions the fight of creativity alongside motherhood, Ashlee is the one. I have stood witness to the ways in which she encourages, supports, guides, and commiserates with other mothers as they dare to dream creative dreams. If there is a voice for creating anyway, Ashlee is the voice to which I want to listen.
Her new book is called Create Anyway: The Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood, and I’m so glad to have it in my hands. The book is exactly what I hoped it would be–honest, grace-filled, encouraging, funny, and so so beautiful. I found myself wanting to return to my own art with every turn of the page.
This I believe, was Ashlee’s hope in writing it.
“This book is about looking for hope when we feel hopeless, searching for light when the day seems dark.”
In the middle of a messy week, with her words in my heart, I went searching for the light. I found it in this cocktail. I hope it sparks something creative in you, too.
The Create Anyway Creative Spark Cocktail
First, we must start with the ingredients.
“As I cleaned up my desk for the day, cluttered with notebooks and multicolored index cards, a quiet inner voice reminded me: you have everything you need.”
This is true, in creativity, but also you might not yet for this cocktail. :) Start with these ingredients:
2 oz clear spirit (gin, vodka, tequila, white wine, sparkling wine, etc) OR water
1 tea bags Butterfly Pea Flower Tea
1/2 oz lemon juice
2 oz lightly sweetened soda water (Trader Joe’s Lemon Elderflower or Strawberry Rhubarb are a favorite but any sweetened soda you love will do. If you go unsweetened you might want to add some honey, simple syrup, or powdered sugar to balance the lemon juice.)
Lemon wedge for garnish
“If we want to create inspiring art, we have to consume inspiring art. We have to go where the light is, toward what is lovely, toward what makes us feel alive.”
Today, going where the light is might actually be literal. Find the prettiest corner in your home where the light sneaks in and make it your cocktail station. This cocktail just sparkles when the light hits it. If the sun is down, you could even light a candle. But if literal light isn’t working with you today, listen to your creative heart. Choose the flavors that sing to you. Find a pretty glass. Grab a little something from the fridge for a garnish. Or maybe you simply need to put on some music that makes you feel alive. It’s all creative.
Begin by steeping your spirit or water with the tea bag until the color changes to a deep purple. This could take up to 10 minutes. That’s ok. Use this time to rest your creative spirit.
“Rest reminds us how beloved we are, just as we are, with nothing to prove and nothing to earn.”
Add the spirit/water to a glass with ice. Now, in the middle of the full recipe we come to my favorite part.
“We live in a culture obsessed with final products, but the middle matters greatly. The showing up, the discipline, the putting your butt in the chair–this is where the magic happens.” It's time to make magic.
Slowly pour the lemon juice into the glass and watch the color gradually change. It’s amazing, right? Did you even know you were capable of such a creative act?
But we’re not done. Now it’s time to throw glitter.
“I don’t know about you, but I want to choose generosity over grumbling…Glitter throwing over lint-picking…Let’s spur the women around us toward love and good deeds, and whatever beautiful work God has set before them…And who knows? Two or three weeks from now, someone might find traces of glitter lingering on the couch cushions, right when they need a sparkly reminder to keep going.”
Sprinkle the edible glitter generously over the glass then top with your sparkling soda. Let the bubbles and glitter and creativity bubble up in your glass, and in your creative heart.
“Creativity begets creativity.”
Are you looking in your cabinet and not finding the right tea? Worried the soda you tried might not be a flavor that works? Don’t have edible glitter but you do have a fun cocktail garnish? Remember, mixology is about having fun. Be playful with what you have, even if it’s just a couple of simple ingredients. Add your spirit to your soda, curl up with Ashlee’s book Create Anyway, and let the bubbles spark your next creative pursuit.
“Play breeds imagination. And imagination breeds play. These two things are vital to living a creative life, but I also believe play and imagination are essential to enjoying motherhood as well.”
May it inspire you this day to keep going with your gift. Create Anyway. Cheers!
This lovely book Create Anyway comes out March 28. But you can pre-order the book TODAY wherever you buy your books. Pre-ordering books is the best way to celebrate an author and bring attention to the book before it is released into the world. It’s also a great way to give your future self a gift.