Hi all!
I hope this finds you feeling creativity and buzzing with ideas and fun thoughts.
My thoughts are on keeping a creative flow day to day and staying committed to it.
I’ve signed up again for Find your Creative Flow with the lovely Karen Abend. This will be my third year joining.
I can’t really say I’ve made full use of the course in the past, but this year, I’m trying something new. Commitment to creativity.
The basic idea of the course is to pick one thing you want to do and stick with it through the whole month, making sure to show up daily.
My first year, I showed up, but I was all over the place. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it’s not the same as commitment and focus.
The second year I fizzled out totally. A combination of distraction and not feeling well caused big problems. And dare I say the same old thing of not staying committed to what I was about.
This year, I have chosen to focus on working with my pastel drawings every day through the month. It’s only a few days in and yet I feel that temptation to wander, but I’m staying on course. I really do love working with them. Time just disappears.
I had to have a little think about this idea of creativity and commitment.
What does it mean to stay committed to your creativity?
Here is what I came up with:
Daily work is important. That’s right, you have to show up daily. That’s commitment and it’s not at all easy.
Decide on the time. It doesn’t have to be marathon sessions every day. In fact it might be better that it isn’t. Set a time and the duration for yourself and show up for it.
Put the fears aside. Every time I start something new, it’s the same feeling that comes up. Will I be “good enough” to do this? I don’t even answer the question. I leave it alone and just start. I can always trash it and start over if needed.
Handle the distraction. They are going to come in some form. Maybe daily if you are somewhat distractable like me. They aren’t always bad, but they must wait until the daily work is done.
Don’t deny yourself the pleasure. Creativity brings pleasure through getting into flow, enjoying the process, and finishing a work. Maybe for you one brings more pleasure. That’s cool. The main thing is to allow yourself this.
People around you might not understand. Some will and some won’t. Those that do will give you support and space, the others are going to make things more challenging for you. You’ll likely need an individualized strategy for handling the people in your life.
Create the space. This is super important really. If you can have a space to go to for your creative work, it makes it so much easier to return there and be ready to start with minimal fussing about. And it isn’t just literal space, it’s space in your mind too. Clear the mental clutter to make it easier for yourself.
Want it. In the end, it’s this that is most important. You have to want to be committed to your creativity. Some days it’s an effort to get there. I have to work to reinforce this thought. When it’s hard, I try to remember the pleasure and satisfaction I get from my creative work.
What do you think? How does commitment to creativity look for you?
If we can manage this we can get in a great place of finding our creative flow and building on it. Just remember the skills, the work, the pleasure that will follow when you stay in that flow…
I’m excited just thinking about it!! :)))
