Lack of Discipline or Misplaced Productivity?

An online writer's group posted a thought-provoking question.  The panelist reminded us of the Staple's ads featuring an "Easy Button."  And then asked what makes writing easy.   "What makes the time fly and words fly and fingers fly for you?"

It's a great question.  This past month has been very busy.  She Speaks always adds more to my to-do list. My children were getting ready to go back to school.  And I've been playing catch-up after having those same blessings home all summer.  Writing has fallen to the bottom of my priorities.  It's not been easy at all.

What makes writing easy for me?   Being anywhere but home.  Starbucks.  Borders.  Barnes and Noble.  The library.  You name it.  I could write on a bus, the park, or the curb outside of QT.  Basically, anywhere my work computer isn't.

But I should be able to write at my desk!  I say with a pout. 

It's a beautiful desk, and all my writing resources are within arms reach.  My wonderful dog Kona sits at my feet.  My husband is just upstairs in his office if I need to bounce an idea off someone.  The microwave is ready to reheat my coffee and I can look at my rose bushes outside when I need a refreshment break.

But there are also e-mails sitting in my inbox.  And no, I can't fool myself by shutting down Outlook.  I know they are there - taunting me with needs to be met.  There are projects sitting in my desk-top file holder.  My phone rings.  The dogs need more water.  Life happens all around me and I can't turn it off.  I'm wired to respond. 

So I've castigated myself for my lack of discipline.  Other people can write at their home desks. And so should I.  Right?

But I'm tired of berating myself.  And I'm not even sure it's really a lack of discipline.  What if it's misplaced productivity?

If I'm most creatively productive in a certain environment, then I should play to my strengths. Many artists believe environment is crucial to creativity.  Think of Monet in the French countryside.  Thoreau by Walden's Pond.

Perhaps for me it is identifying that two distinct personalities reside within my person:  1) The administrative leader  2)  The creative writer.  Those two personalities require different fuel and nurture.  They also require different settings at times.

So instead of fighting myself, I'm investing in myself.

If you are my area this week, at a Border's Books, you might find me in the cafe, sipping a mocha and writing.  Come join me and we'll start a group of people who love to write, like Emerson and Thoreau in Boston, or Lewis and Tolkien at Oxford.   Well ... I know that's dreaming high ... but it's fun to think about.

In His Love,

Glynnis

Celebrating Creativity

I'm so happy you've stopped by my blog today.  I'm celebrating a new look and a devotion running called "Rediscovering Creativity."   So welcome!  If it's your first time here, please look around and post a comment.  I've love to hear from you. 

If you are one of my bloggy friends, I've been silent for awhile as I put the finishing touches on my blog.  Or actually, I should say the brilliant and creative Carol Poortvliet put the finishing touches on it.  If you are ever in need of someone to redesign your blog, or do any graphic design work, I highly recommend Carol.  She's a hard-working mother of two, running her business from home to be there for her family.  She's an amazing Christian woman who does almost all the design work for Proverbs 31 Ministries, including our magazine.  I adore her. And she always inspires me with her creativity.

Anyway, this blog truly reflects me.  I love anything cottagey,  romantic and vintage.  I know that's not very popular these days, but it's really who I am.  If I could transplant an English cottage to my current city, I would.  Except for the fact I live in Phoenix, and it will probably hit 110 degrees today, and all those vines that would be growing over my cottage would die in this heat.  A girl can dream, right? 

On to creativity ...

If you've read any of my past blog posts, you'll know I don't consider myself very creative - even though I think I should be, given I'm a writer.  You can catch up on my oddities in this post.   If you read it, you'll see that I've always been confused by myself, specifically my strengths and weaknesses.  Years ago, when I worked in public relations, we often had to set up special events.  Don't you normally think of PR people as creative?  I did, and I thought I should be. However, the truth was if anything creative came out of me, it was because I worked with very creative people.  But I always compared myself to them, and came up short.  Recently, I've taken a different look at creativity. 

It happened when I read the book "Linchpin" by  Seth Godin.  While it's essentially a business book (which I love being left-brain uber-dominated) Godin throws out a challenge to this generation of people wanting to make a difference.  He says that the world is looking for artists - in every genre of society. But sadly, we've had the artist baked out of us.  And it's happened, he says, because of schools.

Now don't get upset.  I love schools and I love teachers.  I come from a family of teachers and professors. But he's got a point.  We get very good at learning to take a test.  We learn what the teacher wants, and then give it to him or her to get the grade we need to pass the class and move on to the next teacher.  I'm a great student.  But it has hindered my creativity.  

I see this same phenomenon on some of my favorite reality shows, like American Idol or Next Food Network star.  The judges are looking for the performer or chef to show them their unique style.  But so many of them don't know what that looks like.  I cringe when I hear them say something like, "What kind of music do you want me to do?"  "What do you think my culinary point of view should be?" 

Be authentic!   Be yourself!  Let yourself go and be your own remarkable self!

God planted art and creativity in each of us.   Maybe we need to shake off the fear of the test, and discover the artist within us.  And we can be artistic in any given area of our lives - cooking dinner, caring for children, sewing clothes, managing an office or teaching school. You probably don't want to be creative with your taxes, though. 

To celebrate creativity in the kitchen, I'm giving away a really cute apron by Mary-Lake Thompson with a beehive design on the front.  Just leave a comment WITH a way for me to contact you, and I'll pick a winner at random and announce it on Wednesday.

Thanks again for visiting!

In Christ's love,

Glynnis