On Pausing, Rest, and Recharging the Creative Well

What happens when growth slows and rest calls louder?

Hello and welcome to The Curious Magpie, I’m Océane and once a month I write a post about life, curiosity or creativity. My hopes, dreams, fears and everything else in between. Thank you for coming along and I hope you enjoy reading my words.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about rest. About how hard it is to take a break even especially when you know you need one.

The world we live in doesn’t make rest easy. It rewards busyness, multitasking, pushing through. In my day job, I work with three screens (yes, three!) it’s great having a 2nd monitor when I’m looking at spreadsheets but I can’t ignore that this kind of setup also implies I can work on 3 different things at once. But I can’t. None of us can. We’re not machines. We’re human. And we’re not designed to always be switched on. That somehow I can split my brain into three parts and function just fine is just crazy thinking. No wonder I find it hard to concentrate on one thing at the time, I’m constantly distracted by emails and Microsoft Team’s messages. In my personal time, I feel I’m often expected to spend more time creating content then actually make art or just live my life without recording every aspect in photo or video format to use later because it would make ‘good content’.

After pouring a lot of creative energy into this publication/membership the weekly Wednesday Wonder prompts and our monthly Draw Together sessions, I’ve realised my batteries are running low. Add in a stressful work season, and it’s clear: I need a pause.

Back in May, I was so excited to celebrate one year of the Curious Magpie membership. I had plans to inject new creativity into the space, to build and expand. But honestly? Right now, I’m not sure. The members I have (paid and free) are wonderful (truly, thank you), and several of my paid have already resubscribed for another year, which means so much to me. I’ve always felt the gem of this space is the weekly creative prompts. They’re thoughtful and intentional, and I put a lot into them. But I’ve also lost three paying members recently. Of course, numbers will go up and down, I realise that’s normal and I’m often being told, don’t look at the numbers. Have you noticed that more than often it’s the people with Big numbers who say don’t look at the numbers?! My numbers are not big, I can count them on one hand so maybe sometimes numbers can’t be ignored and they might be trying to tell me something.

I need to be honest with myself and with you. Recently, I can’t help wondering if the paid subscription model is right for how I want to inspire people to be more creative. I’ve been feeling unsure about how to move forward. The Curious Magpie started off as a 10-week creative membership before I moved it to Substack, it had one run in October 2023 and just over a dozen members which is over double the number of paid subscribers I have here on Substack after a year. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot…so I’m taking August to rest and reflect, and figure out where to go from here. I know I still want to keep this community going, to offer prompts, sessions, encouragement but I may need to reshape things.

This year, I’ve put myself out there more than ever. Which also means: more rejection. Four pitches, four rejections. They’ve all stung. I work full time, raise two kids, and try to squeeze creativity into the corners of the week. My time is precious. So when I make space to apply for something, it has to matter. Which makes the no harder to take.

I often say growth isn’t a straight line. It rises and dips, pauses, shifts direction. Sometimes it stops altogether for a while. Just like life, really. Things rarely unfold exactly the way you imagined. And right now, I’m in one of those quieter, uncertain seasons.

And maybe you’re feeling it too? It’s the middle of the year. Maybe your energy’s flat. Maybe your ideas haven’t quite landed. Maybe you’re tired. I see you. You’re not alone.

So here’s what I’m doing:

For August, I’m pressing pause on the weekly prompts for everyone free and paid subscribers. I’ve already emailed my paid community to tell them what’s happening.

Instead, you’re all invited to explore the archive. There are plenty of gentle, spacious prompts (free and paid) to return to or try for the first time. Go slow. Let your creativity breathe in the light of the summer.

And I’m making the August Draw Together free and open to everyone.

🗓 Tuesday 12th August at 8.30pm (BST)

We’ll be drawing animals for our alphabet. You can expect the session to be light-hearted and playful.

👉 Click here to register

Also: Sometime that’s really helped me recently. I’ve been taking days off social media once or twice a week, and it’s already shifting my habits. On those days, I barely reach for my phone. It’s teaching me to notice how often I check without meaning to. That small pause is helping me reset.

Rest isn’t laziness. Slowness isn’t failure. And stepping back doesn’t mean giving up, it means making space to begin again.

Whatever August looks like for you, I hope you find moments to pause, reflect, and gently reimagine what comes next.

Thank you, always, for being here.

With Kindness,

Océane

P.S. If these words resonated with you, if you’ve also been feeling tired, unsure, or in need of a pause, would you consider hitting “restack” or sharing this post? It might help someone else feel a little less alone in it all. Thanks!

---

Please consider telling a few friends if you feel you enjoyed reading or listening to this, curiosity is a life ingredient that’s always better shared. Thank you! Océane xoxo