Summer Suleiman: Using Your Imagination with Your Kids
Did you think of yourself as a creative kid? What does creativity look like for you these days?
Yes, I always loved dressing up, putting together outfits, and accessorizing. In school, I can vividly remember getting excited when we were assigned essays.
Creativity looks like reading to my son Jaad in character voices, building imaginative spaces at home, using simple everyday objects as learning tools, dressing in costume, and finding new ways to make my Jaad laugh daily.
How did motherhood change your creative practice?
Motherhood completely shifted my creative practice. I used to have a Sunday writing ritual that I kept for over eight years until my son Jaad was born in March 2022. Now I fit my writing in spurts - 20 or 30 minutes here or there when Jaad naps. Oh those coveted long naps!
When do you feel most creative?
I feel most creative when I am in solitude and have the space to think and reflect in a quiet, uninterrupted space. Libraries really make my writing come alive.
What helps you make time and space for being creative? How do you avoid burn out?
I have spent a lot of time in the past year and a half thinking about the many mothers who care for and raise children on their own. I am extremely fortunate to have an incredible support system. My mom and sisters have been a tremendous help to me as a new mother, caring for Jaad so that I can rest and pursue my writing endeavors.
But now that I am in Portugal and far away from my home of origin, it’s much more challenging to make time and space for being creative. I am a relatively new mother so I am still trying to learn how to balance the art of caring and being creative. However, last month I had a whole Sunday to myself thanks to Jaad’s grandmother, and it is remarkable what one day of rest can do for your mind, body, and spirit. I hope to be able to make it a recurring practice. Thank God for the grandmothers!
Who would you love to collaborate with? What’s a dream project for you?
I would love to collaborate with one of my closest friends, Reba Joy. She is a brilliant designer and also one of the kindest, emotionally intelligent, and spiritually expansive people in my life. She has been a champion of my creative pursuits for nearly a decade. She was the creative force behind my second blog, The Distillery, where I chronicled the real experiences and challenges of entrepreneurs. A dream project for me would be to write and publish a book with Reba Joy designing the cover.
(From Summer’s work in progress on her experience with postpartum rage as a new mother living in Portugal amidst last summer’s heat waves and the county’s unforgiving forest fires.)
How can we support and encourage each other more?
Be diligent about writing, sharing, supporting, and contributing to each other’s work. Attend openings and launches, share each other’s work, refer other great writers, designers and artists, and help foster connections among each other.
What mothers inspire you? Who should I interview next?
My long-time friend and fellow creative mother Whitney Mitchell. She inspired me in so many ways with her diligence, discipline, work ethic and sheer strength before we both became mothers, and I am still in awe of her. I am thankful to have her as a friend on this utterly wild journey of motherhood. You should definitely interview her next.
What do you hope your kids will learn about creativity from you?
I hope that through my creativity Jaad will learn that there is no limit to his aspirations in this lifetime, and that he is completely free to be whoever and whatever he chooses to be in this world.
If you had a million dollars to make the world a better place, how would you spend it?
I would start a summer writing camp in Palestine to encourage and teach the art and practice of writing and storytelling. Our stories help us stay rooted in our identities. They are our legacies and no one can take those from us.
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is a Palestinian-American writer and mother who lives in Lisbon with her husband and rambunctious one-and-a-half-year-old son, Jaad. You can read her musings on living, writing, and mothering abroad on Substack.—
Hi! I’m Heidi. Writer. Editor. Mother. I’m interviewing 100 creative mothers, because I believe the more we see other mothers making beauty and meaning in small moments, the more we will be inspired to make our own kind of art, whatever that may look like during this intense season of life. Support the project by sharing with a friend.