Okay, you didn’t do it today, did you?
That “thing” you love, that calls you, that you always intend to get to, but life gets in the way.
You know it’s important to you. And more than anything, you would love to have endless time and energy to indulge your creativity and attend to your heart’s desire. But all the “shoulds,” “gottas” and “have tos” have you running so fast you’ve almost forgotten where it is you really want to go!
Look, I know how easy (and how painful) it is to let go of what feeds your soul in order to take care of the “emergency du jour.” Like you, I’ve had plenty of days where I pushed aside my creative calling in order to attend to my day- to-day responsibilities.
This past week, in particular, I was so caught up with the demands of my business and traveling that I neglected to attend to that which I truly love, that which feeds the best part of me: my connection to the Creative, to Love, to That From Which All Good Things Flow. And I paid for it. Big time. (You may call the Creative your Muse, or divine inspiration, or Creative Spirit, or God. I call that Source of Love, Joy, and Yummy-ness, the Creative.)
Whether you’re a heart-driven coach creating a new program, a writer writing your next book, a songwriter producing a new album or a painter bringing a new painting to life, you can’t afford to put all your energy, attention and time into the tactics and tasks of your business. You need time, energy and space to feed and express your creativity, to engage your creative Spirit and refill your creative well.
Yes, I know how challenging this can be when you’re trying to make a living and stay on top of all your responsibilities and build your business. You can’t help but feel that something has to give. And more often than not, that Something is your creative life.
But is that what you really want? Is letting go of your connection to the Creative serving you?
No. In fact, I’ll be so bold as to say this: the most essential component to achieving real success and prosperity in your business rests in your commitment to honor and attend to your creative connection. If you sacrifice your creative life in order to “get things done,” you’ve cheated yourself, your fans, your business and one of the greatest Loves of your life.
So, what’s a busy creative entrepreneur to do?
Here are a few principles to help you stay connected to your creative heart and soul:
Daily Practices
Every successful creative, spiritual entrepreneur I know has regular daily practices that keeps them in the creative flow. Whether it’s a daily journal or meditation or prayer or committing the early hours of each day to whatever creative project they are working on at the time.
What daily practices could you create and commit to? It doesn’t have to be a huge chunk of time. It could be 15 minutes of writing or 10 minutes of singing or 7 minutes of finger-painting. Ask yourself what practice would be the most helpful in keeping you in the creative flow.
Allow yourself to experiment, change it up, and see if there are other practices that uplift, inspire and keep you connected. But do them every day so you are consistently feeding your creative spirit and keeping that creative channel open.
Honor Who You Are
Any time you start feeling like you’re not doing enough of this or aren’t successfully completing that, stop. Remember, you are a creative being whose definition of success is not necessarily the same as others who choose to give everything they’ve got to building their business.
It’s hard not to compare yourself to others, especially if those “others” seem to be doing more, achieving more, having more. Again, stop and remember, you are you. Remember that what you have to offer is unique and valuable. The fact that you’re a creative entrepreneur means your path will look different from others whose strengths and gifts are different from yours.
Honor and appreciate who you are. Honor and appreciate the path you’ve chosen, for it’s a noble one.
Act On It
Acknowledge what you love, and act on it. If you truly love your creative connection, if you truly love music, writing, imagining, praying, performing, painting… act on it. Do it! Every day.
Like your daily practices, this doesn’t have to take a huge chunk of time (though if you can commit to 45 minutes or an hour, you will be see amazing results). It can be as simple as singing one song before you eat your lunch, or writing a 4-line poem on your napkin, or doodling a drawing on your notes during a meeting.
Expressing what you love in action makes it real. It takes it out of the “good idea” conceptual phase and into the physical world. This in itself IS the creative process.
Thought+Action=Manifestation. And by engaging in this process, even for a short stint, keeps you toned for further creative adventures.
Get Support
Being a creative entrepreneur can be isolating. And lonely. You can start to feel as if it’s you and your creative impulses against the world. But you are so not alone! There are so many other creatively driven people who understand fully what it’s like to have the desire to create yet feel tied up in the day-to-day demands of life.
Earlier this year, I made a commitment to my creative self to sing every day for one hour a day, for 30 days straight. Except Sundays. No excuses. Rather than do this all alone, I asked the love of my life to take on this commitment with me, since he’s a songwriter, singer and musician who also struggles to find time to invest in what he loves.
Then, I thought, “What the heck! Let’s throw the doors wide open on this thing and invite anyone who wants to commit one hour a day, for 30 days, to “that thing” they want to do yet never seem to get around to doing.” Thus began the Just An Hour program.
An intimate group of creatively driven folks came together and we’ve been supporting each other in our commitment via a private Facebook group. And the results have been inspiring, encouraging, uplifting and very satisfying. We keep each other accountable, but we also share our successes, how our hours are affecting the rest of our lives and when we get caught in resistance.
If you want some daily support, encouragement and inspiration to take action on your creative goals, I invite you to join us this month.
But whether you take advantage of this 30-Day program or not, know you aren’t alone. Create a little haven of space and time where you can connect with the Creative. Even if nothing tangible comes of it. Do what you can to honor your creative spirit and impulses for they will enrich and inform every other phase of your life.