Winter Arc: Creative's Edition

Welcome to Creatives Anonymous, a weekly newsletter that explores what it means to be a modern-day creative. It inspires, encourages, and empowers readers to take back their creative power.

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For those of us chronically online (sorry, not sorry), you may have seen the concept of “winter arc” trending. 

“Winter arc” describes the 90 days between October 1 and December 31 (aka the last 90 days of the year) where you can get ahead of the “new year, new me” crowd and hit your goals before the end of the year. 

The days are getting shorter, darker, and colder, making it the perfect time to “hibernate” to start new habits, recommit to your goals, and go into 2025 as your best self—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

It’s the last quarter of the year, the holidays are fast approaching, and a lot of us are taking our foot off the gas and telling ourselves that we’ll hit the ground running January 1. But we forget that we still have three months to make progress—that’s a lot of time! 

The winter arc is all about dialing in and getting super laser-focused on your goals so that by the time the new year comes, you’ve already made significant progress. 

I’ve seen this in several ways—from the gym bros who are looking to make big gains to the girlies who are trying to increase their protein intake. A lot can change if you consistently show up for yourself over the next three months.

While many of the videos I’ve seen apply the winter arc to a health and fitness context, I think it can also apply to creativity. 

Three months is a lot of time to make progress on your creativity goals. It’s not too late to take a class, pick up a hobby, or improve a skillset. A lot can happen in three months. 

The idea behind the winter arc is to establish sustainable habits that will create long-term change in your life. There are things you can do right now to establish creative habits and live a more creative life. 

For example, I had a goal this year to attend at least one art class. I for sure thought I wouldn’t be able to cross this goal off my list this year, but an opportunity presented itself this month unexpectedly, so I might be able to cross it off after all. 

A few things examples of some creative goals to set as a part of your winter arc could be: 

• Go through The Artist’s Way 

• Sign up for an art class

• Establish a daily drawing habit 

• Take one photo a day of something that inspires you 

• Do morning pages every day

• Go on an artist date every week 

• Purchase supplies and try out a hobby you’ve always wanted to try 

• Visit a museum exhibit 

• Collect and document the things that catch your attention in a commonplace book

• Make progress and finish your backlog of creative projects

Here’s what my creative Winter Arc is going to look like: 

• Finish documenting my trip to Greece 

• Build my Lego flowers (a friend gave me some for my birthday, and so excited about them)

• Take more film photos and get them developed 

• Create my Christmas cards 

• Attend a class/lecture/happy hour at the new art academy that opened in Seattle

• Take more opportunities to film b-roll to use on social for work 

• Update my home decor

Rather than habits, I’m taking more of the project route. I have quite a few in my queue that I’d like to complete before the year's end. I think the habit will come as I’m spending time during the week to complete these projects.

It’s not too late to start your creative goals. Even if you don’t complete a goal from start to finish, it doesn’t mean you can’t lay the foundation to make good progress on it before the end of the year. 

Are you going to participate in the Winter Arc challenge? If so, what will yours look like? Reply to this email and let me know! 

CREATIVE CORNER

• 🎞️ What I’m Consuming: Saturday Night, the new film that tells the story of the 90-minute before the first SNL show in 1975. 10/10 recommend.

• 💡 What I’m Loving: Lego flower sets gifted to me to build

• 🎨 What I’m Working On: A mood board for some decor updates I want to make to my apartment

• 💭 Weekly Musing:

Thank you 💕

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I’m so grateful for all of your support!

Alexa Phillips is a writer, brand strategist, and multi-passionate creative. She is the founder and Chief Brand Architect at Bright Eyes Creative, a creative studio that helps creatives monetize their zone of genius and creativity.

Where to find me:

• Join the waitlist for my new offer, Musing to Monetized, launching soon!

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