When constraint becomes freedom
Recently, one of the artists in the 15-Day Creative Consistency Challenge told me about the freedom she feels when she commits to creating every day, even on days when she doesn’t feel like it.
It sounds ironic at first. Because it is.
Forcing yourself to create every day sounds like the opposite of freedom. What if I’m busy? What if I have no ideas? What if the work isn’t good? We all ask these questions, because they’re logical. We’re weighing if it’s worth it. We fail to realize that the constant asking of these questions steals more freedom from us than a daily creative practice ever could.
There’s a mental freedom—a spirit freedom—that only comes when the mind and the will aren’t at war with each other. When the mind isn’t trying to undermine the will; when it’s not trying to negotiate or gain a footing. When a busy day, or a stressful day, or a bad day doesn’t derail us from doing the work…there’s a different kind of freedom in that.
If we can make one hard decision up front, it releases us from the weight of a thousand tiny decisions every day. Instead, we’re free to simply find a flow state, and focus on our work.
