Creative Pace, New Designs, and the Joy of Going Slowly

There is something quietly satisfying about returning to an old creative lane and finding it still waiting for you.

Lately, I’ve been easing back into shirt design, and I’m excited to share that two new shirt designs are now available in my Redbubble shop. Getting back into wearable art has felt refreshing, like reopening a sketchbook you forgot you loved. At the same time, I’m also introducing my junk journal kits, which have become another deeply rewarding part of my creative world.

What I’ve learned, though, is that enthusiasm needs pacing.

As someone with ADHD, creativity can arrive like a thunderstorm: sudden, electric, and all-consuming. Hyperfocus can make it tempting to dive headfirst into a project for hours or even days, pouring in so much energy that burnout arrives before the joy has time to settle in. I’ve learned that if I let myself sprint too hard at the beginning, I risk exhausting the very excitement that made me start.

So lately, I’ve been practicing something less dramatic and far more sustainable: going slowly.

That means setting timers to remind myself to drink water, eat meals, and step away from the desk. It means alarms for bedtime, even when inspiration is still tapping at the window. It means deliberately switching hobbies before fatigue turns delight into resentment. A pause is not the enemy of progress. Sometimes it is the thing that protects it.

That slower rhythm is one reason junk journaling feels so wonderfully suited to me.

Every page in a junk journal is its own little world. One page may ask for collage, another stitching, another layering paper textures or arranging ephemera just right. Each spread invites a different skill, a different kind of creative energy, while still belonging to the same cohesive whole. It keeps my mind engaged without trapping it in monotony. There is always something new to solve, shape, or imagine.

In many ways, junk journaling mirrors the creative balance I’m trying to build in life itself: variety within structure, freedom within form.

So whether I’m designing shirts, assembling journal kits, or simply sketching ideas for the next project, I’m reminding myself that slower is not lesser. Slow growth is still growth. Gentle progress is still progress.

And sometimes, the best way to keep loving what you create is to leave yourself room to breathe between the pages.