Mayesh Design Star: Embracing the Creative Habit

In Daylen's second video, worlds collide as he brings together his love of flowers and background as a dancer, exploring the idea of making creativity a habit and setting forth the notion that creating for yourself is just as important as the work you do for others. You are artists, and just like painters, sculptors, and photographers, you are not immune to falling into a rut if you do not tend to your own creative garden and remind yourself why you love working with flowers. While this video does not have a design tutorial or complex mechanics, we hope it ignites a creative spark in you and inspires you to revisit the reason you love what you do. And when things get stressful, don't forget that you get to play with one of Mother Earth's most beautiful creations for a living. How cool is that?!

After watching the video, read below for more of Daylen's thought-provoking insights on this idea. Let us know the impact this video had on you in the comments below!

In the creative work that we do we often just create beautiful things for other people, but rarely do we actually get the opportunity to create solely for ourselves. Part of the creative process is giving yourself permission to pour into your own creative energy. This Design Star shoot was just that! A true gift for Mayesh and the Design Star program for pouring into the opportunity to embrace the creative process without an expectation of the outcome. In a time where everyone is so eager to show only the best of their lives and creative processes, I think it's important to also have a conversation about the sticky side of being creative and ways that you can make your creativity a habit and not just a workhorse.

A little background on myself: I work as a floral installation and brand activations specialist for a luxury floral and event creative company called Sweet Root Village in Washington, DC. I am a ‘self-proclaimed’ creative energizer bunny - and for as long as I can remember arts, design, and creativity have been a HUGE part of my life. From my time as a professional dancer to working as a freelance creative for some of the most recognizable brands that you know - I have built a career on flexing my artistic and creative muscles. My hope for this conversation is to foster a community around making creativity a habit, all the while battling imposter syndrome and creating effective and sustainable habits in your creative practice.

Making Creativity a Habit:

I believe that creativity doesn’t just happen. You aren't born with this figurative ‘light bulb’ on top of your head, and maybe it’s just the dancer in me, but I honestly believe that creativity is a muscle… that just like every other muscle in your body that needs to be exercised to build strength. That every artist should develop a real cognitive process for producing new ideas, and transforming old ideas into new ones.

And that got me thinking about how we don’t talk enough (especially with people who are just starting out in flowers), that during the first few years of making things…they sometimes fall short of our expectations. It's because all of us that get into this work have great taste (humble brag) and a desire to make beautiful things. And it is that taste that keeps us dissatisfied with our work. Most people who I know and respect, that do this forward-thinking creative work, feel this dissatisfaction for years. And it's only by doing volumes of work that we see our way forward. Keep making things. Keep creating without judgment; without expectation of the result. Because it’s only through that exploration that we truly find our creative voices.

If you want to improve your creativity, you should start by consuming as much as you can. Open yourself to new experiences (travel, art, music, etc). Feed yourself with as much information as you can get your hands on. That was what this Mayesh Design Start shoot was for me. The opportunity to sit down and create with people that I love with a trust that in the process beauty would be made.

Any creative process is just a dance between the dreaming and the doing; madness and method; solitary reflection and active collaboration. It's showing up even on days that you don't feel like it and putting your unique energy into the world. You owe it to yourself to do that.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
It is a book by (shocker) a renowned dancer and choreographer where she details her creative process and how she makes creativity work for her! One of the first points that she makes is how she is consistent with the most microscopic action that acts as a catalyst for her creative habit. Her example is that she goes to the gym to work out and exercise her body every single day… however the consistency isn't the workout itself...it's the climbing into the taxi. It's proof that the smallest steps can lead to the most action. It's a mindset really….like showing up for yourself.

Battling Imposter Syndrome:

Okay…(drum roll).....let’s talk imposter syndrome...(dum dum dun dun). I think the SUPER VILLAIN of all creatives is this ongoing battle with Imposter Syndrome and creative burnout. I mean, even today as I was planning this shoot and bringing all these amazing creators together... that crappy little voice in the back of my head was saying “who does he think he is – there are so many other more qualified people” --- and I literally had to pump the brakes on myself and say, “hold up, we need to turn this headspace around...because we don't have time for that kind of negativity." It's a constant battle, you know? You have to trust that your voice is needed here and that you are made to do this creative work,

Finding + Trusting your Unique Voice

My only hope from this video is that it inspires you to create. That if you ever feel less than, or not good enough that you lean into your unique creative energy and that you trust that the world NEEDS what you have to say. If one person is inspired to jump back in and do the work…this video has done its work.

A quote that I live by from Martha Graham - who is the mother of modern dance - essentially says:

There is only one of you in all time, so your expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not yours to determine how good it is; nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. And that No artist is ever pleased. There is only a divine dissatisfaction; a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.