Many years ago my friend and colleague Joyce Lombard and I did a lot of writing and ran some groups on developing your creativity. While cleaning up my computer this last couple of months, I rediscovered pieces of our work and want to share some of it, and my current thoughts about it with you.
We made a list in 2007 of smart goals for creative pursuits. This may seem like an odd time of year to be talking about goals – it’s summer! And I generally think about goal setting in the Fall (will we ever get off the ‘back to school’ schedule???) or in January. But things open up in Summer, schedules change, and it might be a good time for you to evaluate your creative goals from the view of accuracy, adjustability and authenticity. As we’ve stated before – reality wins!
You may have accurately laid out your schedule for the year on a calendar – work, family, social commitments, etc. and now find that its midsummer and things have changed – vacations rearranged, more company coming. As your earlier schedule is now derailed by new plans, here is where adaptability and authenticity come in. Rather than giving up or beating yourself up, take a look around. Perhaps you can move your painting time to Tuesday mornings instead of Fridays? Perhaps it makes more sense and is more fulfilling to do some writing while sitting on the edge of the creek in the evening rather than cramming it into the early morning?
You may also find, as the days lengthen, the schedule changes, and you have more time to reflect, that your goals themselves may need to change. Here is where authenticity really comes into play – your goals need to exist for you and not what anyone else thinks you should do next. You may discover that rather than production being the top of your list, what you really want and need is a year to slow down and develop a meditation practice, get your finances in order, dream and muse, visit local galleries. These subtle aspects of the creative process are support for the more active, productive side!
Ask yourself-
Am I willing to let my goals be adjusted to seasonal changes? What might that look like?
Are my goals accurate, based in reality?
Upon reflection, anything I can do to make my goals more authentic? To really help me meet MY goals?
Enjoy taking time with yourself to visualize some creative pursuits for the next half of the year! Patty & Suzanne
Liz and Dharma Updates:
We now have a full cast of characters assembled around Liz and Dharma and have been busy developing their stories and dramas. We’ll post more teasers toward the end of the summer, but for now, we’re busy with our creative writing goals and how to squeeze them into our changing schedules. And laughing alot over plots and dramas!