“…still and still moving….” T.S.Eliot
Kate’s Turn:
I have discovered that making and breaking my own record keeps me going in my practices. It is the kind of motivation that has me competing with myself. When I first began to practice qigong, my Master encouraged his students to practice for 100 days and to notice how our well-being improved. If I missed a day, I had to start counting from Day 1 again. Eventually, I stuck with it to make it to 100 days, and by then, it became integrated into my lifestyle. Another example: during the winter months of the pandemic, I began an online language course for more mental stimulation. The program sets a small daily goal, and awards and bonuses are granted as I continue my consistent daily practice.
In both examples, I just didn’t want to break my streak; I wanted to keep going to make the daily goal. I began to wonder how I could establish a structure that would encourage and reward me for engaging in my creativity practice each day. How can I have a small, attainable, daily engagement with watercolor painting or writing, much like I have integrated with qigong and learning a new language? How can I get hooked into maintaining my own streak of practice times? I have been advised to touch my creative practice each day, even if in a small, simple way. It then transforms from a streak record to be integrated into an eventual lifestyle.
Never let a stumble in the road be the end of a journey. Just keep going.
“I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart.” Vincent van Gogh
Get Fired Up:
What kind of structure can help you be consistent with your creative practice?
What helps you to keep going?
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Lao Tzu
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