Creative Juices

At the end of 2019, as I prayed about and planned for 2020, God told me to do something creative every day. I loved that idea and gladly accepted the challenge, even though 366 days did seem like a big commitment. Then He told me to blog about this challenge. That gave me a bit of pause, but I’ve been documenting my 2020 creativity journey on my blog.

Today is Day 50 of that challenge, and I have 5 things I’ve learned from daily expanding my creativity.

1. I am far more disciplined than I imagined. And I’m now channeling that discipline to other areas of my life. I realized if I can allow myself to be creative for at least a few minutes every day, then I can allow myself to do something else for a few minutes every day. I’ve increased my writing output, cleaned up some corners of my house, read daily, and I’m building a business.
2. I am far more productive than I’m accustomed to. Recognizing that I have to allot time for creativity has forced me to examine how I spend time generally. I spent far more time on facebook than I should, and since scaling back on facebook, I’ve discovered I have time for some activities I didn’t think I had time for (like my daily reading in #1).
3. Unexpected opportunities have presented themselves. One of my earliest creative endeavors this year was to create art out of hole punches. I created a picture of waves. I didn’t expect anyone to notice or care about my hole punch waves, but just the opposite happened. New people began following my blog, and an artist colleague asked if I would demonstrate my technique at her studio.
4. I am acquiring new skills. I’ve always loved to try new things, but having one random outing with your friends to try axe throwing isn’t the same thing as learning and applying new skills. Instead of facing things outside of my comfort zone with dread, I’m inviting in new experiences. I have learned some of the inner workings of WordPress, launched into Canva to design educational and promotional materials for my business, and implemented some marketing strategies.
5. My creative energy and output has increased in several areas of my life. In meetings at work and church, I have made unusual connections and shared innovative ideas. I even choreographed a praise dance and co-wrote an Easter play.

I struggled to write this piece, because I feel like I’m bragging. I suppose, however, I am. I’m bragging on how God, the ultimate Creator, can use one small creative endeavor to stretch how I think about and interact with the world and its possibilities.

And I’m excited for more. If this is where I am on Day 50, where will I be on Day 366?

Let today be Day 1 for you. If you need help getting to Day 2 or beyond, please contact me for 1:1 coaching. Also, please comment below to share where cultivating your creativity is taking you.

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