Create Anyway: The Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood

Gadd, Ashlee

Writer and mother Ashlee Gadd helps you discover the sacred connection between creating and mothering. One-part commissioning, one-part pep talk, Create Anyway will propel you forward with a renewed sense of energy, purpose, and enthusiasm for stewarding the creative dreams God has planted in your heart--right alongside the diapers and carpool.

Motherhood and creativity can coexist. 

You have creative dreams swirling in your heart, but pursuing them while changing diapers and managing the carpool schedule feels impossible. You have no time. No space. You can mother, or you can create. You certainly can't do both (right?!).

But what if you could pursue your God-given creative gifts alongside motherhood, for the enrichment of both experiences? What if you stopped viewing creativity as a selfish act, and started to see it as essential to your own flourishing as a mother? 

This book is a much-needed permission slip to do just that--through the pictures you take, the stories you write, the meals you make, the music you play, the gardens you grow.

In this unforgettable book filled with rich storytelling and stunning photographs, writer and mother Ashlee Gadd helps you set aside the guilt and discover the sacred connection between creating and mothering. One-part commissioning, one-part pep talk, Create Anyway will propel you forward with a renewed sense of energy, purpose, and enthusiasm for stewarding the creative dreams God has planted in your heart--right alongside the diapers and carpool.

Here's to creating in the margins of motherhood.

Here's to creating anyway.

Praise for Create Anyway

"If you've ever felt like your creative energy and your motherhood were at odds, Create Anyway will be a balm to your soul."--Ruth Chou Simons, mom to six boys, Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and founder of gracelaced.com

"Create Anyway is an anthem, an invitation, a spark that will light a fire in your heart."--Gretchen Saffles, founder of Well-Watered Women and bestselling author of The Well-Watered Woman

"If you're looking for a manual to help you reclaim the sacred slowness of motherhood and creativity, pick this one up today."--Hannah Brencher, author of Fighting Forward and Come Matter Here

"The stories and wisdom in Create Anyway will inspire you to prioritize and delight in making art, not in spite of motherhood, but because of it."--Laura Wifler, author, podcaster, and cofounder of Risen Motherhood

"I cried tears of release throughout this book. It's dreamy and gorgeous and raw, and I feel as if I can finally exhale after two long, hard years."--Leslie Means, creator of Her View From Home

"Part pep talk, part permission slip, this beautiful book honors both the mothering journey and our God-given desires to create."--Kayla Craig, author of To Light Their Way and creator of Liturgies for Parents

"Create Anyway is a compassionate call to be enchanted by the ordinary and see the beauty right where you belong."--Rachel Marie Kang, founder of The Fallow House and author of Let There Be Art

"If you've ever questioned your value or worth in the long season of mothering little ones, I highly recommend this book! It feels like letting go and coming home at the same time."--Anjuli Paschall, author of Stay and Awake

"Ashlee drops breadcrumbs of hope, confirming that we are not alone in the messy margins and perhaps instead of waiting for 'perfect' we have permission to lean in and make something beautiful right there."--Jena Holliday, artist, author, and founder of Spoonful of Faith