There are a plethora of obstacles and over stimulations that can impact our relationship with creativity. Currently adjusting each and every day to the ever changing demands, schedule, and needs of an evolving two month old has completely changed my dynamic with my creative practices. What I have found helpful in this season of life has been a two-fold approach: capping creative expectations and planning a routine NOT a schedule (which is something we’ve discussed on this blog before in various iterations). In building a creative life successfully, having one's creative practice become another tick mark on a checklist of endless to dos is not in line with integrating creativity into one's life. When we feel overloaded and overwhelmed with that bottomless list of have tos, creativity is a get to for the soul. It is the place we go to, the activity we do, to unburden and offload stress, irritation, worry, and pain. In order to do so effectively we need to protect our creativity.
Let us begin with the first step in my current two-fold approach:
Capping Creative Expectations
This strategy requires several steps, but fear not, they are not cumbersome, and once thought through become second nature in future endeavours and allow that integration to occur with understanding and accomplishment.
Firstly, we set realistic expectations for our creative practice taking into account our current season of life, goals for our creative project and balancing effort, sustainability, and consistency between those two states; where we are and where we want to go. The goal is the resulting endpoint we hope to reach or the outcome of daily practice. The micro lifestyle change goals to be completed are the stepping stone expectations of what is realistic and achievable to get us there with our current circumstances, schedules, and responsibilities.
Our second step is to set boundaries around and within our creative practices to suit those goals and expectations.
In my own life I have created these expectations and boundaries for my creativity so that I might continue to ground myself with these creative practices during such a fast paced stage of life. I have set the expectation that I will continue my blog through this season; the boundary is to only post twice a month with no expected deadline so that it can continue to be a fulfilling experience without overloading my plate.
In pursuit of increasing both my reading and my interaction and connection in the wider creative community I have been ravenously signing up for ARC and Beta reading opportunities such that I have capped my reading for each work, including my ongoing novels for leisure, at 10% per work per day. The number of works I consume each day depends on the timeline and deadlines of reviews or feedback.
Routine V Shedule
I have found that without the limitations of classic school structure, dance classes, or (during this period of maternity leave) regular working hours, trying to compress all of my have tos and get tos and want tos and need tos into my day creates excessive pressure, unrealistic expectations, and an intense overwhelm, especially with the first consideration always being the tiny human who depends entirely upon me. From the bedtime routine we are creating, my skin care morning and night, my reading caps, or the blog posting bi-monthly I do not subscribe to a specific time set schedule for any of these activities. Rather, I choose to create a routine surrounding these events that may be implemented at any time. Whether we go to bed at seven or eleven, the last thing I do is my skin care routine. I don’t care what time of day or how long it takes, but I will get my 10% of whichever novels I have to read that day read.
Routines are set by parameters of behaviour; schedules are strictly rigid and accountable to times set and durations. In cultivating a life of integration I have found routines to be more flexible and therefore have a better adherence or compliance rate than attempting to set a schedule. Routines also allow space for grace whereas schedules which tend to elicit more shame when something is missed, dropped, or plans need to be changed. Schedules also have more overwhelm associated with them due to having everything timed down to the minute or seeing an overwhelming amount of tasks to try to prioritize and accomplish. By changing my mindset and planning into one of routine and flexibility I have been able to do more successfully and with more delight than ever before.
For me the key is to set routines that can be slotted in throughout the day as the time chunks arise. This format allows for a carpe diem lifestyle; to seize each opportunity each day to build delight and fulfillment into the everyday moments of life. By limiting myself with caps, reasonable expectations, and routines that can fit in anywhere, I never feel a sense of failure or deprivation of my creative practice.
Creativity and creative practice are meant to enhance and bring delight and respite into our lives, not overload us with more obligation and stress. By capping effort, managing expectations, and chunking up reliable routines, creative practice can become sustainable and consistent in all seasons of life.
Comments