Creativity Check-In: 🌟 "Chaotic Discipline"

How's Everyone Doing? Share Your Creative Project and Special Moment

Welcome

Hello! I’m Emily Lupita. I’m a Latina travel writer & artist from rural Iowa living in Ankara, the capital of Turkiye.

Creativity Check-Ins are where we come together to share how our creative projects are going, what we’re working on, and stories from our daily lives as creative people. I’ll also share an activity for some self-care & to get our creative energy flowing.

This is a feature on - Emily Lupita Explores - a creativity journal where I share ​explorations from my writing desk & art projects, plus illustrated stories of travel adventures with my two Autistic sons.

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🌟 Check in by sharing your answers in the comments

How’s it going?

What are you working on?

Share a special moment with us.

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👩🏻‍🎨 My Update

Lately, I’ve been thinking about chaotic discipline.

I’ve always been a believer in discipline. My version of discipline these days is more intuitive, like a garden that thrives on wildflowers and volunteer tomatoes instead of perfectly spaced rows. I think chaotic discipline means showing up, but on your own terms. It’s writing three pages at 2 AM because inspiration struck, or finally tackling that project after weeks of circling it like a suspicious cat. The magic isn’t in the order; it’s in the motion.

Some people call this inconsistency, but I call it rhythm. Chaotic discipline understands that energy ebbs and flows, and forcing yourself into a strict routine can sometimes stifle creativity. Instead of guilt-tripping myself over missed deadlines, I try to lean into the natural currents of my focus.

Some days, I’m a productivity monk, devoted to crossing off tasks. Other days, I stare out the window and let my mind wander. Both are necessary. Both are part of the work.

The key, though, is not letting the chaos become an endless abyss. There’s a difference between honoring our rhythms and surrendering to the black hole of inertia. Chaotic discipline still requires commitment—just not the kind that ignores your humanity. It’s setting loose goals, then trusting yourself to meet them in your own way. Maybe that means drafting a newsletter in bullet points before fleshing it out, or scribbling ideas on napkins until they cohere into something tangible.

In the end, chaotic discipline is about faith—faith that the work will get done, even if it doesn’t look like you expected. It’s permission to be imperfectly productive, to embrace the zigzagging path instead of only the straight line.

Good journey,

~Emily Lupita

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🌟 Activity for Self-Care

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Chaotic Discipline

Theme: Embracing the tension between chaos and control in creativity and self-expression.

Objective:

To explore the interplay between chaos and structure, allowing us to experiment with controlled spontaneity and reflect on how these opposing forces manifest in our creative lives.

Step 1:

Choose your form of art where you feel most grounded - the creative place you feel safest. For me, that’s my Lupita portraits. Maybe for you it’s dance or pottery.

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Step 2:

Create a very basic example. Make something that is quintessentially your style/signature design. For me, that’s the outline of my Lupita character. This process represents discipline.

Step 3:

Allow yourself, just for a few seconds - or however long you feel comfortable - to embrace chaos. For me, this means drawing my curvy lines all over the place. I let myself pull back any restriction and allow the lines to arrive however they feel, flowing out.

Step 4:

Take some time to sit with the result of Step 3. How can you find a middle path between discipline and chaos? Is it a path or a river? Is it a river or a mountain?

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🌟 How was the activity? Share your thoughts in the comments. 🌟

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👩🏻‍💻 Social Media & 💌 Sharing

Connect with me…

• On LinkedIn - here.

• My Instagram is @EmilyLupitaExplores and

• My Facebook page

• American Bardic Poet - A poetry newsletter that I edit.

Check out my…

• Current Art Projects

• Artwork & Story Books on Amazon USA

• Art Shop with Threadless

Please consider sharing this newsletter with someone you think may be interested. Refer a friend below. ⬇️

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❤️‍🔥