How Creative Energy Begins Again: Imbolc Seasonal Attunement for Creatives

This January, my workspace is an in-between place. My pegboard is empty, resting, waiting for me to redecorate with fresh inspiration for the season. My desk is cluttered: notes to organize, a toy to glue back together, an oracle deck I want to use more, materials for an autumn crafting project I didn’t finish in time, and more than a few things that don’t belong here.

In the past, I cleaned my desk according to a clear hierarchy. Put away the things I wanted to work on first. Make room for the more important to-dos demanding my attention. Hurry to finish them before more things accumulate in the space. Never get around to making it less of an eyesore. Try to be productive in spite of it all.

This year, I felt pulled toward doing something different. It didn’t make a lot of outward sense, but it brought relief and lightness to my heart.

Little by little, I cleared everything away. As soon as any surface was clear, I cleaned it. I put nothing back. I let it sit empty. No projects, no decorations. Just the faint lingering scent of lavender leftover from the surface cleaner.

That emptiness brought inspiration. Inspiration brought a plan. The plan turned into action.

But to prepare, not produce.

It was the same feeling I’ve been having on my weekend nature walks, looking up at the bare branches overhead and down at the tiny bits of green showing through the dead leaves covering the ground.

Imbolc: The Threshold Between Winter and Spring

For those unfamiliar with Imbolc, it’s the seasonal festival marking the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It’s a celebration of warmth, the slow return of longer days, and roots digging deeper into the ground, gathering the strength needed to bloom in spring.

It’s an observation of the earliest signs of spring: the green spikes of daffodil leaves poking out of the ground despite the forecast calling for snow and ice.

There’s not much to see yet—outside or on my desk—but it’s coming. Later. Now is a quiet time of readiness and renewal.

It’s a time for tending our creative energy with warmth and care so it’s strong enough for the work ahead.

Clearing Space for Creative Energy

The practices associated with Imbolc and other early February seasonal traditions offer inspiration for how to care for our creative energy this season.

Making room for new things can start with cleaning. But you don’t need to go on a purging rampage, or get rid of everything. Simply clean and tidy.

If you’re a creative, pay special attention to cleaning:

• the room(s) you do your work in
• your desk, workspace, and any surface you use
• your computer
• pens, paintbrushes, and other tools
• your devices

It’s also a good time to cleanse your digital spaces. Label and organize important files (remember tax season is coming soon!). Delete what you no longer need. Clear out your inbox.

You don’t have to get it all completely done. Just enough to make the spaces you regularly work in feel a little lighter and a little warmer.

Journaling or Meditating for Seasonal Attunement

Our inner creative spaces need tending, too. They need space for the plans we’ll make and the solutions we’ll piece together when Plan A doesn’t quite work out.

Like wiping the windows clean to invite in as much light as possible, journaling or meditating can brighten your headspace and help creative thoughts come through a little clearer.

To get started, here are some questions to explore:

• What has already ended for you that you can release?
• If letting go of one thing could make you feel lighter, what would it be?
• Bring your attention to anything in your environment that is white, yellow, or orange. What feelings or memories do those things bring to mind right now?
• Consider the robin, which usually fights over territory with song rather than violence. What obstacles to your growth are more for show than actual threats?

Take your time reflecting. You can return to these questions over several days, or let new ones surface as the season unfolds.

Emerging Slowly Through Purposeful Visibility

Like those first early sprouts beginning to peek out, this is a supportive time for small, quiet ways of showing up. Let your creativity be visible.

It doesn’t have to be something big and public to the world. Start with friends, relatives, or trusted members of your circle. Show someone something that you made—even if it’s still a work in progress. Share an unfinished idea you had. Talk about something that inspired you.

This isn’t about trying to appear productive or accomplished. This is living creatively and being comfortable existing as a creative person.

Imbolc as a Time for Connections and Crafts

Imbolc has a strong relationship with crafts and skills. And since most of the work happening in nature right now takes place in the roots, we can echo that energy by working with our hands in ways that build strength slowly.

Settle into a rhythm. Practice. Play.

This isn’t about mastering something new right away or finishing what was left undone before winter set in. It can look like mending, practicing a stitch, returning to a tool you haven’t touched in a while, or picking up a small project simply to see how it feels.

It’s also a season for quiet connection. Working alongside someone else. Sharing what you’re learning. Checking in on who made it through the winter with you.

A Time to Acknowledge Our Endurance

Winter is often harder than we expect. Getting through it—emotionally, creatively, or otherwise—is something worth honoring. We can do that by noticing what endured, what adapted, and what is on its way.

There’s something beginning again below the surface, even if we don’t know what it is yet.