When I wake up on my writing day, my brain is often awash with creative ideas and projects. I sometimes have several competing blog ideas swirling around in my head. It can be hard to know which one to blog.
And it is not just blogging that fires up my creativity. There is the allure of my book. I can feel it calling to me, whispering my name, reminding me of the editing awaiting me. I also have numerous musical projects on the boil. They are calling me too.
All of these creative projects constantly jostle and elbow each other, trying to be top dog on my to-do list. The practical upshot of this is I can struggle to pick just one creative project to focus on. Multitasking is hard. *Sigh*
I can struggle to pick just one creative project.
So how do we do it? How do we pick just one thing to work on? How do we even find time for creative work?
In my relatively short writing-for-the-public lifespan, I have adopted two important creative principles as my own.
Firstly, being creative is a habit. It is all well and good to write or be artistic when the inspiration strikes, but what if inspiration does not strike today? What if inspiration has gone on holiday? What if you spend all day procrastinating? (It’s not just me, right?)
The trick is to practice all the time. Sometimes inspiration will hit when you do, and you will create gold. Sometimes it will not, and your creations will be mediocre. But here’s the thing. Practice actually encourages those creative juices. The more you create, the more inspiration shows up.
The more you create, the more inspiration shows up.
Plus, you have to create a lot of crap in order to get to the good stuff.
Secondly, I go with the flow. If I simply cannot concentrate on blogging because the book is calling, I go work on the book. You never know – a blog idea might hit me later.
Go with whichever project or idea has the most energy for you. That energy will empower you to create more, to inject more gold into your work, to fill your creative work with enthusiasm and passion, and to dig deep into that vulnerable place of true creativity.
That energy will empower you to dig deep into true creativity.
In going with the flow, you will be much more likely to hit that state of flow where you lose all sense of time passing and all awareness of your surroundings, becoming completely immersed in your work. Have you ever been so lost in creativity you have forgotten to eat?
That is flow.
I have a theory about the spiritual side of flow. When we are in flow, no longer censoring ourselves, just pouring out as fast as the ideas come to us, we are also more open to the subtle leading of the Holy Spirit. We are more sensitive to him.
We are more open to the subtle leading of the Holy Spirit.
Our creative work becomes a living partnership between us and God.
Instead of striving with your creativity today, struggling with which idea to pursue or procrastinating on all of them, first determine which creative project is most likely to get you into that irresistible state of flow.
And go with that.
What creative ideas are exciting or attractive for you today? What things get you into that state of flow? Where have you sensed the Holy Spirit coming alongside you in your creative pursuits? Share your story. Let’s have a countercultural conversation.