Making Space for What Counts
Embracing abundance is all well and good, and I do my fair share of that, but when you embrace too much of it, making space becomes urgent. Especially when you are a creative soul, and there are so many creative activities that beckon.
You have to sort through all of the possibilities, for one thing, since each day is a day you could paint a landscape, sketch your left hand for practice, photograph the wintry city scene, make a video from all of your iPhone footage, write a flash fiction piece, design a new logo, redo the look of your blog, work on your screenplay, hand-letter a wonderful creativity quote, finish editing your novel, and so on. Have I missed one of your favorite pursuits?
Once you’ve nailed down that perfect thing you’re energized to tackle, you realize it’s not exactly the thing you really need to do. Sigh. Then comes the agony of choosing one, or just a few, over the many. Because as creative idea-generators, the engines are always humming with new possibilities. And determining priorities is a never-ending saga in the search for creative mecca.
Which puts space-making right on top of the priority list. There are plenty of places you need to make space:
- in your head
- in your workspace
- for your writing
- for your art
- for your creative passion of choice
- for your priorities
- and so on . . . what are yours?
When 2015 rolled around, I looked around at all of the resolutions being made and thought that mine could be summed up neatly in those two words: Make Space. Not so much a resolution as a life goal, Making Space is my way of reminding myself to set my intentions.
“Make Space: It’s not so much a resolution as a life goal to set your intentions.”
For me, that meant I would focus on the most critical thing each day. It meant I had to choose. I took up my favorite pen, and wrote down My Top Five. My Top Five were the creative activities I most enjoy doing. I stared at those for awhile, and then circled two. That’s because I realized that a scattered approach would never allow me to ever really triumph at any one of the five. That was hard, but I concluded it was only temporary. And that it would allow me to do the two things I really couldn’t live without: write about what’s important to me, and express myself with my photography.
What would Your Top Five look like? And what would you choose, if you could only select one or two? It’s not an easy decision, and maybe you’ve already made it (kudos to you!), but if you write them down, the top choices will bubble up.
And instead of making a bunch of lousy resolutions for the new year, I decided to set one resolution a day. I look upon that as the most important goal of the day, and indeed, it’s become that. Luckily, I’d worked that out by deciding to Create First, React Later [read HERE]. It has become the one thing that lets me settle into bed content each night, knowing I’ve done that. I called it a resolution a day in lieu of a year’s worth.
Besides, you can do anything for just one day. And it could even become a habit.
Here’s how it’s played out in just one short week, as demonstrated by my Twitter account @AustinDetails (Spoiler Alert: It’s been quite a success) and working backwards from today’s resolution. Why my Twitter account? As it turns out, when you make a commitment publicly, you’re more likely to accomplish it. There is actual scientific research for this premise.
Resolution for a day, not a whole year: Do as Flannery O’Connor says and be there for the words. #2015 #amwriting pic.twitter.com/iBo1njostT
— Jann Alexander (@AustinDetails) January 12, 2015
On the first day of the work week, Monday, my resolution was pretty effective. By noon, I could report to my breathlessly-awaiting Twitter followers: Flannery O’Connor would be proud. 1750 words by noon and ready for more after lunch.
Today’s resolution in lieu of a year’s worth was to do nothing. So naturally that means I am doing something. #2015 #incentive
— Jann Alexander (@AustinDetails) January 10, 2015
On Sunday, the day before, I gave myself a chance to do nothing. And sure enough, I ended up busy. I’d intended to read and relax and cook, and instead, my creative engine was purring along all day, even as I stirred the soup pot.
Got it! Today’s resolution, not a year’s worth: Take my own advice. http://t.co/1ZlLeQvU9S#nobrainer #2015 pic.twitter.com/RnpUeXNATZ
— Jann Alexander (@AustinDetails) January 9, 2015
Friday led into a great weekend, with a blog post down and 2,100 words for my long-dormant novel: Writing dialogue is hard even when it flows easily. Wordcount today: 2,100 words. Done!
A resolution a day instead of a year's worth: Corral all those ideas into the novel to write 2,000 good words. #amwriting
— Jann Alexander (@JannAlexTX) January 8, 2015
January 8, 2015: What a day! My accomplishment was echoed in my happy tweet: In the Slog-It-Out dept, with 2,000 hard-to-write words now writ, I believe I deserve to pop a bottle of Cava! (I got plenty of social media reinforcement for that self-congratulatory reward.)
Today’s resolution in lieu of a year’s commitment: Have a plan. #2015 #Writetip#Creativitypic.twitter.com/Rw6IrgOMxJ
— Jann Alexander (@AustinDetails) January 7, 2015
When I had a chance for a photography break, I jumped on it, and delivered two gorgeous prints to a client. I felt a little thrill when I could report being “inspired by ‘Creative work first. Reactive work second.'”
The case for my one-a-day strategy! "How New Year’s Resolutions Weaken Our Resolve" http://t.co/1g3P67LThH by @LoriLSchafer #wwwblogs
— Jann Alexander (@JannAlexTX) January 7, 2015
To reinforce my belief in my new system, I found a blog post by Lori Schafer that gave me encouragement. Experts say this is often the best way to make good on your goals: Find positive reinforcement.
A daily resolution, not a year's: Finalize prints for client project. Done! #ohwhatafeeling #ATX pic.twitter.com/5wKttxyEna
— Jann Alexander (@JannAlexTX) January 6, 2015
You can probably see that my concept of making a resolution for my creative day, and letting it come first on my To Do List, has been working out pretty well for me.
My resolution for today (instead of an entire year): Just get there! #LifeHappens #AmWriting
— Jann Alexander (@JannAlexTX) January 5, 2015
I’d said I would, publicly, so I did. No one else cared. Just me.
A resolution a day instead of a year's worth for 2015: Get back to the work. #amwriting pic.twitter.com/w8qMeYEuwK
— Jann Alexander (@JannAlexTX) January 4, 2015
Happily, on January 4, I could boast on Twitter: 1700 words, done! This was my commitment to a novel I’d begun nearly a decade ago, and had worked on only intermittently since then. And now I had the best chance of writing the 30,000-some words it would take to see it completed. My feeling of accomplishment was amplified by my public acknowledgement to my fellow writing community that I #amwriting.
Feels good to get 1500+ words down. But are they the right words? #wordcount #amwriting #wip pic.twitter.com/AjEpiJF1PS
— Jann Alexander (@JannAlexTX) January 3, 2015
A resolution a day had suddenly become a thing I could do, a baby step on the way to the bigger picture. My day had begun with my commitment to writing, and soon I had 1,500 words. I was jazzed! This could work, I realized. My novel could finally be finished this year, and even better, I was focused on the words I was putting down, not on whether they were any good or not. So much creative output gets derailed by the worry that the work is no good. But staying true to one intention each day, the first one of the day, sets aside those fears.
Resolution of the day (instead of a year's worth): #AmWriting #NovelinProgress #DrinkingCoffee
— Jann Alexander (@JannAlexTX) January 3, 2015
It's a new year. I'm favoring a resolution a day instead of a year's worth. Today's: #AmReading #DrinkingCoffee
— Jann Alexander (@JannAlexTX) January 2, 2015
When the new year dawned, and I’d felt the stirrings we all feel for a renewed commitment to our personal growth, I’d realized (perhaps instinctively) that there needed to be some kind of change to make good on my long-ago promises to myself. Abundance, and possibilities, are the constants that the optimistic mind seeks. But it is in the making of space for the realities to happen that the real magic can materialize. I believe in abundance, in possiblities, and most of all, in magic, and I want to make it happen. Don’t you? ♣
Where are you headed this year, and how are you getting there? I hope you’ll share what works for you in the Comments.
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Great quote…
Love this post, Jann, and the concept of creating first and reacting later!
Thank you so much. The mantra Create First, React Later has kind of a double meaning, to me. But that’s for another post. Happy space-making today, Angeline.
Hello Jann! Inspiring post for me, as a writer and 50+-year-old woman whose thoughts seem to scatter with the wind. Bringing them back to bear on what is important to me is most definitely something I resolve to do this year. I am appreciative of your ideas for choosing one thing each day as a focus. Making space for my creativitiy can be tough, but hey, I am tougher! P.S. I am already a follower on twitter.
Hearing that this inspired you is what makes me share what works for me, so a big thank you for responding, Barbara. Is the focus-on-one-thing-a-day concept working for you?
Love this idea Jann. Now to implement!
Glad you like this, Anita, nice to hear from you here. How goes the implementation? As my husband pointed out, rather than have 3-5 New Year’s resolutions, I’ve set myself up to have 365. I guess that’s something to boast about at year’s end.
I love your layout and blog!! This something different than from what I have been following but I see some similarities with what I like to talk about. I just enjoyed it thoroughly. Keep up the good work!
Glad you stopped by. Thanks for your kind words, too.
Like your advice how to be fearlessly creative.
Right now, I’ve been recovering from a head injury in a bike crash with another cyclist that rode into me on New Year’s Day.
So the brain is so precious for not only intellectual and creative endeavours, but each micro movement of our limbs, our head, eye movement…. my recovery involves lots of sleep for the brain to heal and literally regain my balance.
So anything you read in my blog for next months, was actually composed 2-3 months ago. Thank good for taking advantage of inspiration early and advance scheduling of blog posts..!
Well, that is just awful news, and I’m so sorry to hear it. Always shudder when hearing about another cyclist in a bike crash. Helmets aren’t infallible, but they sure beat having no protection at all, and it’s great yours was on and working. Wish you all the best for getting back, stat. Congrats on being such a plan-ahead blogger.
Having that crash on the first day of the year could be the universe offering up a resolution for you. Do you think so? When you sleep, you dream.
We’ll see when I get back to making art…beyond blogging. Am working on normalizing my sleep patterns after sleeping and resting many hours during the day.