Welcome to Create & Live
- THE mindful community for Artists and Designers to build good habits in work and life
Hi there, creative friend and welcome to this very first blog post of
Create & Live! Please imagine me throwing some non existent confetti over here, woohoo!
So, the tagline of this post basically says it all, but let me give you some more information on why I am starting this community: I am on a mission to find out about other Artists’ good habits – not only related to their creative work but also concerning their personal life. I think learning about best practices of fellow Creatives only can be beneficial because let’s be honest, usually we just get caught up in autopilot and often spend way too much time re-acting rather than acting. It takes some effort to reflect on your day-to-day-routine but once you’re open to experiment a little bit to find a workflow that fits your own individual needs, it can be so much fun as well. So why not try to make things easier and get better together?
With Create & Live, it does not matter if Art is just a hobby of yours, if you’re just starting to build your creative business or if you’re an established Artist or Designer. No matter your preferred art tools and media, or if you have an Art degree vs. being self-taught like me.
Create & Live is for you, if you would like to try doing things differently and make an effort to reach your full potential. Would you like to experiment with new habits and see what works best for you? Learn how fellow Artists’ tackle their day to day tasks, get inspired and give it a try? Connect with other creative folks along the way who are just as passionate and open-minded as you and I? Find out about others’ workflows and techniques that may help you reach your personal and work related goals? If you’re answer is YES, then you’re SO in the right place!
How it all started out
Let me tell you how I came up with this idea in the first place.
Having a blog and building a community has been on my list of goals for a couple of years now. I’ve reached a point where I’m just going with my gut, try to be less of an overthinker and put it out there, so here we go:
I decided to leave my old job and build a creative career in late 2017, during my second maternity leave. Being a mom of two little munchkins, building a one-woman-business from scratch was quite a challenge. But I convinced myself that I could be there for our kids as well as pursue this new found passion of mine.
Of course, especially with small kids, you have to be super flexible, so I often got frustrated with myself wondering, if I could really make it.
I struggled with time management, self-doubt and self-care a lot during these years. At times, I felt that I just needed to “hustle” more to get it all done.
Nah, so wrong!
There were times where I worked until 3-4 am, despite knowing that I would have to get up with our kids only 3 hours later and help them get ready for Kindergarden. I constantly pushed myself but didn’t even get the things done that would have moved the needle. I had super high expectations of myself. It was more like I was haphazardly jumping from one thing to the next, hoping for anything to work out.
Not a good strategy, if any at all!
When I initially had made the decision to really go for it and become a Designer, I had promised to myself that our kids would always come first. And although I’ve had a couple of nervous breakdowns, I am proud to be able to say that they always did and of course always will.
At times, there was just too many things to juggle though and I lacked energy immensely. My to-do-list was hilarious and I somehow must have gotten used to being tired all the time. I don’t know how I even got through some of those days, to be honest.
How the idea of Create & Live was born
Given these circumstances, the idea of Create & Live came to me a couple of years ago. I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could balance things out better? Be productive yet less stressed out?” You know the phrase “work-life-balance” or “life-work-balance”, right? And since to me work equals creating, step by step, the name Create & Live came to my mind.
So, I am starting a journey of exploring good habits, and I’d be thrilled if you join me on this trip. Because you know things that I don’t and vice versa. So why not support each other, share our successes, tips, tricks and mistakes valuable lessons and have some fun along the way?
I’m sure, you (just as much as I) would like to make the most out of your time on this beautiful place called Earth, so let’s challenge ourselves to become our best version. Are you in? I hope so!
Together, let’s see what’s possible and reach for our full potential.
You see, only with some small changes, I am now pursuing a way better lifestyle than I used to only a couple of months ago. I’m so glad I made an effort to try new habits because it results in me being more creative, productive and balanced overall.
More energy, less frustration.
There’s no one-size-fits-all though, right? Please know that I don’t have all the answers to your questions. I am constantly experimenting and pivoting myself!
My most important WHY behind all of this is our kids. They are one of my biggest sources of inspiration and I’d like to be their role model and encourage them to go after their dreams.
And here comes the punchline: Going after YOUR dreams is something only YOU can do. You have be willing to put some thought, time and energy into yourself in order to find out what it really is that you want for yourself. Because the thing is, no one else will or can do that for you. Only YOU have the power to try what works best for YOU and take action accordingly. I guess, this is also me, giving a pep-talk to myself here, haha!
Seriously though, if you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed and simply don’t know where to start – you’re not the only one! And this is where being part of a group of like-minded people can be so helpful.
Let me tell you more about my vision for this community!
Create & Live - the vision
Create & Live is supposed to be a safe virtual space where Creatives like you and me come together to get inspired and to support each other with building good habits in their work and life. Let’s cheer each other on, not only when it comes to building but also to maintaining healthy habits for the sake of our physical and mental well-being.
Because guess what? If you’re able to achieve a better work-life-balance, you will feel happier overall and spending more time in the state of happiness, automatically will fuel your creativity. Now, isn’t that great? At least, that’s how it’s been working for me…
If this all sounds interesting to you and like something you’d like to be a part of, then check out and follow Create & Live on Instagram @create_n_live and then also hop over to join our private facebook group if you like! You’re warmly invited and I’ll be so happy to see you there!
Disclaimer: As you will see, there’s not too much going on for now, as it’s super fresh. I have some great ideas in store though, so I hope you might give me a hand spreading the word?
If you could tell your creative peers about it, that would be great for starters! And maybe, they as well can tag their creative besties?! This would be super helpful and very much appreciated!
Keeping it real.
Let’s get better together! 
xo, Kathrin
PS. Don’t forget to join “Create & Live – THE mindful community for Artists and Designers” on Facebook now and say hi! Feel free to also share some fun facts about yourself if you like. I’m excited to connect with you!
Who am I anyways?
I am Kathrin Woo, a passionate, licensed Surface Pattern Designer and aspiring Online-Educator. Together with my husband and our two kids Big-J and Lil-M, I am located in Berlin, Germany. Read more here.
