Building Creative Rhythms That Last
How we go about our daily lives exists within the rhythms we set for ourselves.
The things we do when we rise in the morning become part of a ritual, even when unplanned. Rhythms and routines are essential to the functionality of our work and our play. Yet, we can find ourselves displaced by a lack of discipline.
Not one person lacks a routine, but moreso a lack of structure which allows us to create productive routines and stick to them. Procrastination is a habit that becomes a routine, a rhythm when our actions aren’t tethered to intention and discipline. When this happens, we can easily get stuck in a cycle that isn’t conducive to productivity and creativity.
Personally, I’ve struggled greatly with time management and, honestly, the lack thereof. I spent many times in college and in my work life running toward deadlines instead of matching the pace of the things I needed to complete. Even now, I do this and am consistently working toward implementing constructive and healthy habit-building in my life.
Building rhythms that last with intention can place you on a path that leads to less stress, more productivity, and more time to do the things that need to be done while also leaving time for the things you love.
When I entered the workforce after spending almost two and half years working at home and working for myself, I had set new rhythms for myself. As someone who used to abhor schedules and any semblance of managed time, I felt that making schedules for myself sapped me of the creative spontaneity I yearned for. Ironically enough, that “spontaneity,” more often than not, led to extreme periods of procrastination and a lack of self-motivation.
The key to creating rhythms that last is understanding that creativity thrives within discipline. What drives us creatively will never be just inspiration. It will always be a culmination of things that derive from our lived experiences, our innate desire to make and inspire, mingled with imagination and an immense amount of discipline.
The best part about creating rhythms and routines of creation is that it is never too late to start. It is never too late to begin the beautiful and meaningful work of establishing habits that put you closer to living the creative life you were designed to live.
As creative people, setting time and space for creativity to flow is imperative. Of course, due to life, work, families, and a myriad of other things, how we create will not always fall in line with the perfect ideal we have in our heads, but with discipline, we won’t feel that we are missing out on the gift that living creatively has to offer. When we make space for the gifts God has given us, our gifts make room for us.
You have heard me say more than once that inspiration will not always be the vehicle in which creativity arrives. More often than not, the art and act of creativity will come about as a result of sheer will when God knows we’d rather do anything but sit down and write or paint or dance. In these moments, the desire to be inactive is where the beauty of discipline pushes us to realms of creativity we’ve only dreamed about.
Atticus Harris, a Medium article writer, says this about creativity and discipline, “To find creativity in your work — and whatever your work is, you can do it creatively — it’s important to make it a habit. If for no other reason than by simply turning up each day we increase the odds of creativity striking.” Read more quotes here: The Art Of Creative Discipline: 12 Quotes On Consistency From Athletes, Zen Masters, Dancers & Novelists.
Beloved, there will be days that creativity will feel hard to muster. It can be disheartening and challenging to endure, but it helps to remember the goal isn’t to produce a masterpiece every time you sit down to be creative. The goal is to just be, to arrive and be present as God designed you to be, and go from there. I began writing poetry not to produce something akin to Shakespeare’s sonnets but to find a home in ink and pages that left me feeling more understood and more connected to a part of me that kept pushing itself out through similies and metaphors.
Out of those moments of late-night poems and blog posts, no one in my family knew about Pen of the Beloved was born. Your creativity will make room for you, you just have to make room for it.
Stay creative,
Antavia
Pen of the Beloved
