Why I love the childless by choice.
Recently I’ve found myself a bit creatively frustrated. No time to work on what I want when I want which unfortunately, is very much how my creativity is expressed - immediately without interruption. Needless to say, with a toddler around and an adult life to live this is virtually impossible.
Although, there is a new type of growth and expansion that has come to me since becoming a parent and along with it, creativity in its own right. It’s a type of creativity that is in response to my daughter. It’s often joyful and playful but sometimes it looks like pulling a meal out of thin air… voila!
It got me thinking about people who choose not to have kids and why that choice can be so wonderful. For A LOT of people the choice to have kids is a given, a right of passage even, but kids are an investment like no other so I really respect when someone takes the time to think it through.
The choice to become a parent was pretty easy for me and I’m extremely happy with my decision but, you do lose some parts of yourself in order to endlessly show up for another. One of these parts, for me at least, is the ability to create the way that I need to - with boundless amounts of time!
Generally speaking, people who choose not to have kids have the opportunity to tap into their creativity and go deep. They can express it as much as they choose (outside of adult life stuff). I sometimes hear this interpreted as self indulgent or even selfish, but I completely disagree. The people in my life who have chosen not to have children are some of the the most generous I know (not a throw away line!). I find that they are able to extend their generosity to more people because they don’t have little ones relying on them to survive.
The thought that someone could apply that energy to a creative pursuit and end up reaching and affecting so many people is an incredible gift to give the world.
A few childless by choice artists to admire… Dolly Parton, Helen Mirren, Sarah Silverman and Marina Abramović