Do your chores
Housekeeping is good for creativity
This is Pizza Pages, my weekly newsletter where I publish creative related stuff like comics, interviews, and my silly thoughts. I’m moving from Beehiiv to Substack because I like it better I think, so if you were subscribed to the Beehiiv, welcome back and thanks for your loyalty. u real af for that.
I was recently talking to a friend and he told me that he knows he should start going to the gym, but hates working out because it “isn’t a creative activity.” I thought about that for a while. Is it true?
In one way, no. By hitting the gym, you are technically in the act of creating something: a ripped hot bod. But in another way he’s right because the activity of working out doesn’t require much creative problem solving or expression. It’s not like writing, drawing, designing, or cooking. Doing your chores is repetitive, cumbersome, monotonous. It doesn’t feel creative.
As a preface I gotta say this kinda thinking definitely doesn’t apply to everyone, but I hope to provide a fresh perspective on the topic as it relates to our creative pursuits. For me, doing my chores is essential to my creativity. It’s actually something I’m very passionate about.
Although I may not be in an active state of creation when I’m doing my chores, I believe that I’m in the midst of the creative process regardless. This is because being creative requires that we take time from doing creative things to experience life. Watch Kiki’s Delivery Service if you don’t know what I mean.
If we don’t have any space or time to draw inspiration from, what are we even making? It’s a relentless cycle.
Just like getting ice cream, hanging out with my friends, going on trips, and watching movies, doing the chores is one of the ways that I can expose myself to the world and it’s inspirations.
Here are some other reasons why I love doing my chores:
It is a time to reflect, to think about my day, my next task. Reflection is a humongous part of the creative process. It provides us with an answer to why we did something, what our art means to us, and what we can improve. Chores is great thinking time.
When you’ve learned to do your chores daily, over time they become more of a habit and your body can go autopilot. In those moments, you can shift your chores from an active activity, to a passive activity. Found time! Now I can listen to a podcast or a new music album that can inspire me and get my creative juices flowing.
The creative pursuit is an enduring one. Sometimes we work on a project for weeks, months, years, and still feel that we’re not going anywhere. It’s mentally and emotionally draining… But that’s why I love chores. After ya do them, they’re done. We know there’s a guaranteed end product and it’s relatively easy to reach! The feeling of completion we can get from doing our chores can satisfy the lacking that our unfinished projects leave behind. It’s a reminder that a little proof of labor goes a long way when it comes to motivation.
I personally think these are pretty compelling arguments as to why doing your chores can be creative, or auxiliary to creativity at the very least. BUT YOU MIGHT STILL DISAGREE. That may be because you find that it’s time consuming and the monotony limits your creativity. Even if that applies to you and you can’t find enjoyment out of the process of it, there is no doubt that the product is an environment that is conducive to brainstorming your most creative ideas or performing the next creative task.
Every time I have a clean space, I feel relaxed. I look at my clean space and can sometimes visualize that my brain looks kinda like this. Organized, clean, and prepared. It makes working, drawing, playing, eating, socializing, way more enjoyable and impactful.
I hope this read was interesting to ya and made ya think a lil. As a new substacker, I found it appropriate to write something a bit longer for my first post. Let me know how it made you feel. Did I inspire you to get up and do your chores or did this read only make you hate them more…
“Memories”
Usually in Pizza Pages, I update my readers on my current creative projects. Sometimes I show progress pics and stuff and yap about my work. Currently, I’m working on a content series called “Memories,” where I take voice recording submissions from followers recalling their most cherished memories, and interpret them into comic form.
Last week, I uploaded Episode 4 of this series, which was told by my friend Victoria. Her story was a warm, silly memory of her late brother, Alejandro. Check it out below!
This was easily the longest I’ve spent working on one of these videos. The total working hours was 28 hrs, not including the time it took to cut the audio and find reference pictures. It was all worth it in the end because I was able to show Victoria and get her thumbs up! According to her (and her two siblings), the depiction was accurate!
Except they did say I was wrong about the color of their car, Alejandro’s glasses, the order they sit at their dining table, and other stuff. Evidently, this is a very vivid memory for the family.
Thanks to Victoria for trusting me with this memory! If you have a memory that you could like to submit, please do so below!
There’s no guarantee I will pick your story (since they take so long to make I gotta be a lil selective), but maybe I will! Who knows! Life is full of surprises!
John’s Rex (short for recommendations)
Not sure if I recommended this already, but damn I love this album! Lexa has such a unique voice and I love her bars. Like this one:
This one dropped ma jaw:
Anyways. Thanks for reading.
May all your dreams and wishes come true.
hahaha i love this