The "Jump Out of Bed" Test

A chapter from Bite-Sized Creativity

This is a draft chapter from my upcoming book Bite-Sized Creativity. If you’d like to beta read and provide feedback, please let me know in the comments or reach out.

It was fun to stumble into various creative pursuits through trial and error, but I would have come to discover my main creative practices a lot quicker had I asked myself, “What would I get out of bed for?”. In other words, what excited me so much, needed to be done so strongly, that it would pull me out of the comforts of a soft mattress and a cozy blanket? 

My creativity was shoved to the side when I started working full-time. Thankfully, my trail of curiosities led me back to these in 2023. I have since rediscovered why some creative practices seem more innate than others.

Writing and photography draw me in so much that I’d throw my covers away at 11PM on a school night because I was so excited that I couldn’t fall asleep. Or I’d set an alarm super early in the morning because I just couldn’t wait to get started before the sun rose. 

There are two creative practices I would quite literally jump out of bed for:

I. Writing

Writing is the main one. By my bedside, I have a small notebook that I can scribble ideas in for nights where I’m drifting off to sleep and suddenly think of an idea. Sometimes the thoughts would percolate so much that I’d just get out of bed and write. One piece I wrote on Substack about drag queen Nymphia Wind was written in one go at 11PM. It was a piece written in a flow-state in which my body, mind, and emotions were attuned to.

Sometimes writing becomes a process that helps me self-regulate a not-so-positive experience. When I struggled with anxiety symptoms after an unexpectedly intense hypnotherapy session, I spent a few evenings writing my feelings out before being able to calm down and go back to sleep.

Writing is the absolute essence in which I capture my heightened emotions and thoughts. I protect this dearly. I have a life “rule” in which I’d drop anything I was working on to transfer my emotions onto a page. Emotions in its absolute intensity cannot be contained for a “writing block” that was scheduled three business days later on a calendar. They will not reflect on a page if not written that instant.

II. Photography

The second creative practice that would jolt me with energy is photography. 

I leave my flat while it’s still dark for a good shot. The hour when the sunrises always has that golden glow that would make any photo shine. My friends can attest that I’ve gotten up at 5AM many times to chase the sunrise, be it in Hong Kong or throughout our travels.

The evenings are spectacular, too. I’ve carried my tripod and camera setup in the rain before, a janky umbrella attempting to shield my little film machine from the salty droplets of Hong Kong. Seeing the pictures come back from the lab after getting them developed and reveling in the neon glow made the hustle worth it.

There’s something about photography that words can’t quite capture. It’s a visual medium, telling a story in an instant. When a photo is tinted by certain tonal curves and intentional lighting, it can convey a feeling that would only exist in a photographer’s mind otherwise. A photo becomes a way to share my point of view very quickly to others.

What I wouldn’t get up for

When I pinpointed writing and photography as the two creative practices I would get up for, I noticed that more than half of my curiosities did not make it to that list.

Painting, despite my conscious effort to get better at it in the last four years, is not something I would get out of bed for. I don’t feel the same pull to paint the way I do for writing and photography. This slightly surprised me because it is the one creative practice I’ve dedicated the most effort to learn for because I sucked at it.

Equipped with this new realization, I now know that if there comes a circumstance where I have to squeeze one of my creative practices out of my life, painting will go before photography and writing. This isn’t a forever stance. There have been weeks when I woke up early to attend a 5AM painting class in the middle of a winter cold. But when faced with the finite resource of free time and many, octopean interests, the “jump out of bed” test is a great filter.

What about you? What creative practices would you jump out of bed for right now?

Thank you for jumping on this essay draft: Erin Nolan, Karena, Michael Dean, and Samuel Woods.

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Update log:

• 🏃‍♀️ Finished Hyrox doubles at 1:41! We were honestly really impressed given that we were training yes but 1) we started only in July and 2) we were focused on training up slowly and not burning out. It was so great to have our friends & loved ones there cheering us on. I’m still sore.

• ✨ Wicked was magical. I gasped real loud when Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel appeared on screen.

• 🎙️ Saw Ali Abdaal and Sahil Bloom speak at an event in Hong Kong. Ali’s exactly the same as he is in his videos. I felt confident enough to approach him, as if I’d known him all along.

• 📖 Reading Ken Liu's translation of Laozi’s Dao De Jing (42% completed). I wish I could say I understand it but I’m having a rough time wrapping my head around the text. Perhaps coincidentally, my therapist brought Daoism up during our session.

• 💅 Painted my nails at a dai pai dong. I removed it three days later because I chipped the heck out of it.

• 🎵 Listening to Kendrick Lamar’s new album. Reincarnated in particular hit hard: My father kicked me out the house, I finally forgive him / I'm old enough to understand the way I was livin' / Ego and pride had me looking at him with resentment

• 🤓 My good friend Michelle Elisabeth Varghese launched her writing coaching group! Hit her up if you’re looking to publish a few times a month.

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