I have a new-ish tradition of offering a gift on/around my birthday, and in my obsession with being useful, I decided to return to an instagram post that got a bit of traction a while back. It was just a little chart I had drawn up for myself to track my own creative cycles and seasons. If I'm honest, I made it when I was confused about what to work on (which happens to me often), and feeling lost, unproductive, like I wasn't "getting anywhere," and needing to clarify for myself where I was at with all these different balls I had in the air. It was also an attempt to stop myself from productivity shaming, which I do a lot even though I am intellectually *against that.* And to remind myself that creative work (which is all work) doesn't look the same every day (I often think about how my Disabled body reinforces these cyclical lessons). Anyway it's been more than a year since I posted my original chart, and I kept meaning to make a typed version with image descriptions and my perfectionism was getting in the way. So here it is! Imperfect, but here! May it offer you something useful in your own creative projects and cycles — from painting to parenting to planning protests. Your creative offerings are a gift to this world. May you receive the support you need to be able to offer them sustainably.

*I’m not the first to use a gardening metaphor for creative cycles, and it’s hard to track my exact influences for this poster, since it was initially something I quickly sketched up for my own processing. That said, I always think about Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass when I think about cycles and growth, and I also might have been influenced by this podcast episode about ‘Wintering’ with Sigal Samuel and Katherine May.

** I think squarespace asks you to enter your card even if the product is free. If you would like to bypass that step, go ahead and shoot me an email— I’d be more than happy to send over the pdf directly. :D

[Image Description: A wheel with a circle in the center with hand-written text that reads “Project Cycles” and eight circles around it. Behind these circles is a semi-symmetrical black and white doodle-y drawing of roots, leaves, clouds, water, worms, and moths. Clockwise from the top, these are the circles representing various phases of a creative project:

dreaming: resting, conversations, journaling, consuming art, reading, taking a break, changing scenery

tilling: brainstorming, researching, preparing the space, gathering materials, creating pinboards, developing support networks, learning new skills, applying for grants, experimenting

planting: making clear choices, schedules, and plans of action, creative retreat, launching, that initial ‘burst’, setting intentions and goals

watering: slow and steady work toward bringing the project to life

weeding: checking in on intentions, re-evaluating, letting go of what no longer serves the project

watering: slow and steady work toward bringing the project to life

harvesting: SHARING, celebrating, giving thanks and acknowledgements, creating a means to distribute, sustenance -> storing and saving ‘seeds’ to invest in the creators, community, and future projects

composting: taking what’s left over and putting it toward the next thing, reflecting, recycling, letting go of what isn’t needed, putting things away, getting feedback, taking notes for next time.]