Your Creative Intentions: The Monday Post ~ September 2, 2013
Commit to a regular creativity practice. Regularity — a daily practice, if possible — is key to staying in touch with how you make meaning.
What are your plans for creative practice this week? Given the specifics of your schedule, decide on a realistic intention or practice plan — and ink that time in your calendar. The scheduling part is important, because as you know, if you try to “fit it in” around the edges, it generally won’t happen. An intention as simple as “I will write for 20 minutes every morning after breakfast” or “I will sketch a new still life on Wednesday evening” is what it’s all about. If appropriate, use time estimates to containerize your task, which can make a daunting project feel more accessible.
Share your intentions or goals as a comment to this post, and let us know how things went with your creative plans for last week, if you posted to last week’s Monday Post. We use a broad brush in defining creativity, so don’t be shy. We also often include well-being practices that support creativity, such as exercise and journaling.
Putting your intentions on “paper” helps you get clear on what you want to do — and sharing those intentions with this community leverages the motivation of an accountability group. Join us!
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Studio Mothers: Life & Art 
Wow — two full days last week with all the kids at school — amazing. (Well, the three that still live at home, that is.) I am a person who craves solitude and there’s nothing like having the house to yourself for hours at a stretch, even if you’re spending those hours working like a madwoman in your home office. It’s all good!
I’ve reinstated the meditation and morning pages part of my morning routine — now I need to get my daily writing practice going again after falling off the wagon in late July. This will require getting up at 5:00, and right now I’m barely getting up at 5:40 — so some work to do on that front. As I recommend to clients, make a shift like this gradually, getting up just 10 minutes earlier every morning until you’re on what you consider your ideal schedule. This, of course, requires going to bed on time, or you’re going to have some painful mornings.
My monthly writers’ group reconvenes this week and I’m much looking forward to getting back into the workshopping groove.
I’ve also ripped apart my paper planner (I’ve used Franklin Covey on and off for years) and am going back to custom planning forms (made in Excel). Scary to move to a different system, but what I was using wasn’t working for me anymore. (I tend to swap out my systems every couple of years — and right now I need a better way to manage my editorial work).
Last week’s creative/well-being intentions:
* Daily morning centering practice w/Morning Pages & intention journaling [yes]
* Daily reading [yes]
* Project Life mania [no]
* Art room move [no]
This week’s creative/well-being intentions:
* Daily morning centering practice w/Morning Pages & intention journaling
* Daily reading
* Read peer pieces for Thursday writers’ group
* Work on remaining tweaks to new planning system
* Project Life update (shoot for August pages)
* Art room move (weekend)
There’s something about the fall that makes me look at my planning methods again too. Used to love getting my new planner in my high school and university packages and translating all my deadlines at the start of the term. Whatever works, stick with it.
Good luck on your week, especially the art room move!
I quite agree, Heather! It must be something about the smell of new notebooks in the air…. 😀
Dear Miranda,
I always learn something when I stop in on these Monday posts.
Franklin Covey, I never met before. I am working in to an academic year calendar planner from Staples. I tend to customize whatever planner I use and this one is plain enough.
Last week was still a getting home from vacation and adjusting to life, getting my girl off to school. I did not set intentions, but I did get a lot of sorting, tossing, organizing and finally, unpacking done.
This week’s creative/well-being intentions are:
*Daily Meditation and Centering/yoga/Rumi/morning pages
*Green smoothies daily
*3 days of one hour aerobics (Zumba and walk)
*submitting my library proposal and setting up a meeting
*meeting with G to design my Powder Keg flyers and press releases
*Launch Rampant Sisterhood page on LLD
*put up one blog post on each blog
*connect with Claudia and explore collaboration
*write daily, 1000 words in prep for Sept. 12 BFWW event
*get my calendar coordinated with soccer and lacrosse game dates
*spend a few hours with Karen sewing books
I will stop there.
xo S
That’s a heck of a list, birthday girl! Let us know how it went….
I’ve traded my Franklin Covey planner for Todoist — right now feels like the right way to manage my 3,867 client-related tasks (and personal life, to boot).
last week’s goals: school meetings, birthday sleep over, etc. readthrough continues, await artwork and figure things out from there. major goal this week: simplify and organize before school year gets going. – made some headway in all areas. got more consistent with my morning pages, finally. it takes a few weeks to form a habit well.
this week: finish readthrough, check with artist to see if she is making headway, start writing new idea i have set up with another artist for a picture book. and make a little more progress in current larger project.
kids are all away at college or start full day school days tomorrow! woohoo!
congrats Cathy! Keep up the good work!
thanks, heather! you, too!
Reblogged this on Kitty's Ramblings.
Back to school, thank goodness. Summer was lovely but I crave solitude and uninterrupted hours of work.
This week I’m refining the schedule. It looks like I’ll be practicing yoga from 5:30-6:30 most days except when I go into Belmont for class once or twice a week. This week is for catching up on the gallery/curatorial work in preparation for the next exhibit.
1. schedule in the creative time, a little every day since a lot isn’t feasible right now.
2. work on the panel I started, add details and refine the larger picture. Have this done or at least substantially more in progress for thursday.
3. prepare yoga sequence for weekend teaching schedule.
4. Finish the Tarbell essay and submit to writer’s group for our monthly check-in.
Okay, I’m late posting here, but I would like to say, last week’s goals of outlining and writing the 3 Day Novel (which ended Monday at 11:59 pm) was successful thought more Novella in length. 28K words, and a fairly decent first draft out of the deal.
Unfortunately, the contest wiped me out, so my goal for this week is to feed my creative soul.
– zoo trip on Tuesday with Friends.
– relaxing wednesday and thursday evenings.
– wedding friday.
– family and reading on the weekend!
Good luck to everyone on their weeks!
So good that you know how to fill the well, Heather — too many of us don’t know how to best recharge our batteries. Looking forward to your next update! xo
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Hi Elycia! There’s no link to your blog in your avatar — feel free to come back and share.
Miranda,
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What a great mission, Elycia! Good luck with the rest of your copy and getting started on blog posts! 😀