A different perspective on balancing creative and family life

When I sat down with Jerry Saltz's How To Be an Artist, intending to share some nuggets of wisdom here later, I didn't expect to find the one I needed the most. As a woman who does not yet have children but hopes to have them in the near future, I've been thinking a lot lately about how having children will affect the time I can devote to creative activities like writing. And these are frequently negative thoughts: I'm worried I won't have time for myself or the solitude I require, or that I'll be too tired to do any tasks that involve high levels of concentration and introspection. I wonder how becoming a parent will alter my various identities. And so, indulging in these thoughts, I came across a passage in the book about having a family and a creative career that brought me a lot of tranquility, and I hope it will give other women some much-needed peace as well:

“The artist Laurel Nakadate points out that being a parent is already very much like being an artist. It means always lugging things around, living in chaos, doing things that are mysterious or impossible or scary. As with art, children can drive you crazy all day, make you yearn for some peace and quiet. Then in a single second, at any point, you are redeemed with a moment of intense, transformative love.”

I especially loved the idea I haven’t considered before that being a creative parent can make a huge difference in your child's life:

“But the biggest reward may be that artists’ kids tend to have amazingly diverse, wonderful lives. <<My son has been to every museum in New York City,>> Nakadate says, <<and believes that making things is what everyone does.”

I’ve summarized other lessons that resonated with me in a zine: