Saved From my Creative Rut • by Marisa Lynch

Art Saves ... you could pretty much say that that phrase was my MO this whole year. After getting laid off, preparing to turn 30, and dealing with a personal creative-funk crisis, I turned to art to pluck me out. I needed to find something to help get me out of the rut I had fallen into and I did that through sewing. It all came about after a viewing of Julie & Julia. Yep, that moment changed everything.

I fell in love with how Julie Powell had found her creative thing amidst an uninspiring job — she got her creative juices flowing every day. And I knew I needed the same thing and then came the aha moment. (Cue angels aahing ...) I don’t cook, but I love to sew, so I gave myself a project/challenge/goal: to turn a piece of vintage clothing that was ready to be tossed or donated into something fabulous and re-wearable, all on a budget of $1 a day. Ooh, and I vowed not to shop retail for the year either.

Putting my Hobby First
My project made me put my hobby first. I’d only sewed and refashioned pieces when I had time in the past ... a weekend here and there every few months because there was always other stuff going on. I had always put work first and tried to be everything to everybody and this was my chance to make Marisa the priority.

I also had to deal with an adjusted income — being laid off had me prioritizing everything down to the last penny. There is nothing that feels better than putting on a new piece of clothing — I would get giddy walking home with bags from a shopping trip, excited to try on my new purchases, but that was going to be changing. I wanted to show myself that I could still wear new pieces each day — even though they didn’t come with tags or come in the best condition, I still got that giddy feeling. Taking just $30 for the month, I created a brand new, to me, piece, each day. One person’s trash became my treasure.

Art not only saved me from my creative rut, it literally saved me cash!!

To learn more about Marisa Lynch, visit newdressaday.com.