I’ve been in the creative struggle for a bit now, but I know it’ll pass. I’ve always been a creative person. In elementary school, I loved Fridays because that’s when our readings (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Indian in the Cupboard, Island of the Blue Dolphins) turned into paintings or clay creations. Or when our assignments about Harriet Tubman, the Solar System, or our future, turned into collages or dioramas. This was where I got lost in “the zone” and didn’t mind getting dirty with paint or glue. I didn’t have to worry about being able to finish my work on time because I knew I would. These were my A’s.
I stopped creating after my daughter was born. God didn’t let me forget, though, and gave me a job at Sticker Planet. Slowly, I started making things again after I enrolled at the now-debunked Art Institute. When we bought our first house, art fully entered my life, and it hasn’t left since. It’s been enjoyable in the good times and supportive in the bad times. Until about five years ago, that is.
The creative struggle
A lot of things happened around that time that led to my creative struggle. My cancer treatment ended, we purchased a fixer-upper, the pandemic shut down our schools, and I started working again. Granted, I never fully stopped making art. Instead, I dedicated more time to improving my health, attending to my kids during the pandemic, and getting our house fixed up with my husband. Also, my love of creative writing went into the writing and editing job that I never imagined I could have.
Life has other plans
I felt very fortunate and went all in. And then something happened there that motivated me to research my history and start the Unpopular History of Mexico newsletter on Substack. I’ve dedicated a lot of hours to researching, which has not been easy because I never learned how to study (I had to google “how to study” lol). I’ve learned sooo much though and it’s been so eye-opening, which I’ve learned is another way of saying it’s been mind-shifting and challenging. But I’m so happy I chose to do that.
Read one of my latest posts on Tinta y Miel: La China Poblana, the story of how the famous Mexican doll was born with all her colorful sequins. Interesting fact: China is not involved, but India is.
With all that being said, I return to the issue of creativity and the creative struggle. Slowly, I’ve been picking art journaling back up while also still learning about Mexican history, but up to now, I’ve been keeping these interests separate. Recently, however, I’ve been itching to combine them, and figuring out how to do that has been a struggle, to say the least.
In comes Abeja Soul, with the help of AI
With the help of ChatGPT and Claude, I’ve finally concluded that this is how Abeja Soul will soon work:
(Sidenote: If you’ve been scared to try AI or LLMs, don’t be scared, just learn to prompt.)
🐝 The Abeja Soul blog will now live here at AbejaSoul.com (open during construction), but the link will still be available at EsperanzaBeltran.com
🐝 The link to the UnpopularStoriesOfMexico. Substack.com newsletter (open during remodeling, and recently renamed Tinta y Miel) will be here.
🐝 The future shop, Miel y Papel (closed during construction), will live here as well. More on this in the next post!
I’m feeling pooped and nervous, but I’m learning that this is part of it and I can’t let the temporary creative struggle stop me. I’m building Abeja Soul with excitement and motivation, and I hope that you will join me. Abeja Soul will be a place where art journaling and unpopular Mexican history will meet for café con pan.
In the meantime, let me know if you’ve ever been in the creative struggle and how you got through it.
