One of the core values in our family is protecting the balance of being Creatives more than Consumers.

Our culture today is full of an endless stream of things to consume. TV, movies, internet, music, art, apps, games, live shows, sports, social media, and the list goes on. Don't get me wrong, I love a great movie as much as the next person, but the main focus in our house is trying to find a healthy balance.

Consuming is a passive brain activity. Creating activates the imagination.

I ask my kids on a regular basis, "What percentage of your free time today was spent creating vs consuming?" This question has really taught them to think proactively about how they are going to spend their time. They both have become rather skilled writers, illustrators, singers, painters, and sketch artists. I can count on one hand the amount of times I have ever heard them tell me they are bored. They actually have come to value free time and think of it as precious opportunity to work on whatever creative project they are in the middle of.

I'm so thankful. This habit in them has saved me so much money on school projects, last minute costumes, and talent shows! They get so much more joy out of reinventing clothing or objects we already have, rather than just walking down the isle at Target and picking a ready-to-wear costume.

We have taken some practical steps in our home to facilitate a consistently creative environment as well.

We have one television in our home, upstairs in a loft area.
The downstairs is filled with conversation areas, and creative space. We have a 'living room' type room right off of our kitchen that the previous owners used as their TV room or den. It worked well in that capacity for them and I could see how it could've worked well for us. But we really thought about it, and we decided to reinvent that space.

We turned it into a large art room.

Now instead of hearing the sounds of some Youtube star or the canned laughter from a sitcom in the background while I'm cooking dinner, I hear music playing and my girls pencils joyfully sketching out their latest masterpiece.

We still enjoy movie nights as a family and have our favorite shows, but we try to keep consuming on the low end of our time investment, and free ourselves up to enjoy the wonders of creativity.