I’ve recently been lamenting that I was too busy to do one of the things I love most: fiction writing.
I’m that person who makes those claims about getting something published. It’s said by many and achieved by so few, and I’ll tell you why. It’s a marathon, creatively challenging, and you’ll constantly get in your own way. But it also makes me feel alive and joyful, and it really does happen right before your eyes as you type, as the story in your mind takes on a life of its own. No one is more surprised than you, as your character does or says something completely unexpected. You slip into that heady space where you’re a passenger of your creativity.
There are many books on habit forming and optimum times for activities. Who didn’t love the one that proclaimed you can exercise for mere minutes a day? But the one question you must ask yourself is, when can I consistently turn up for something I love? For me, that means setting the alarm for 6 a.m. every day, including weekends, and getting an hour or more of writing done uninterrupted. I definitely wear the ‘Morning Person’ badge, and a benefit of getting it done right at the top is that the day has already had enormous success before 7 a.m. If I do nothing else significant that day, I’ve got my words in the bank. There has been an accomplishment, and we know how good they feel. I’m working on that creative to-do list daily, and that tick feels so good.
We’re now in week two of this experiment, and something unexpected happened a few days in. I ordered a few small canvases, dusted off the oil paints, and decided to give it a go. Dedicating time and committing to creativity has, it seems, unleashed the desire to be creative in everything I used to love when I was small. My Granny and I would paint together, and when I’d visit in the holidays, I’d go to her art classes and join in. Before you think there is any creative smugness here, I can tell you that this is very rudimentary, but I am having the most fun playing around with it. My creative law of attraction is, apparently, alive and well.
Your jam might not be writing or painting. But is there something you’d love to have more time for? Can you set the alarm even 30 minutes earlier, or turn off Netflix a little sooner at night, to get it done? I promise you that the daily time investment in something just for you will reward you exponentially.
Do I love sleep? Yes.
Do I want to have less of it? No.
Do I drag myself to slumber a little earlier to compensate? Yes.
Here's the lesson I am learning. You don’t need to be good at it to load a paintbrush. You don’t need to be publication-ready to begin your story. The people who get good at these things love the process, the learning, the progress. My husband rolls his eyes when I get excited about a new book idea when he rightly, and often delicately, asks what happened to the last one. I challenged him just this week. How come you’re not competing in tennis? Oh, you play because you love the game. Same thing here. You play, you practice, you learn. Those half-written, sometimes even completed, drafts will probably always live in the desk's bottom drawer. They represent the time I have given to my words, to craft my style and find my voice.
No permissions are needed to turn up and try anything you are interested in. Hang on, I retract that; you only need approval from yourself. To not expect perfection, to make the time and space you need, and to embrace the compromises you might make to enable them to happen.
If you say, “I wish I had more time for….” Please turn up for yourselves, like you probably would for anyone else who asked.
When I saw the picture it reminded me of the lovely picture Granny made for me ❤️ We all believe we are so time poor but we can be in charge of that. The other day I made Jam 🤣, something I'd wanted to do for ages but didn't seem to find the time! So homegrown, homemade Rhubarb jam it is! Xx
So inspirational ❤️