The Problem with Space
Journal Entry: Tuesday, October 17, 2023
The Problem with Space
After getting your time moving in the right direction it is time to think about space. Every artist needs time and space. You might live in conditions that don’t allow you to have a private room dedicated to being your studio. If that is the case, then use the kitchen table between meals, or the coffee table or set up an easel in a corner of a room or hang your canvas on a nail in the wall or set up a desk to draw or work on your poetry or on your computer.
Dedicate that space to being your studio during your studio time. If that won’t work, sit at a Starbucks or go to a library or any place that has a quiet space you can use, even a park bench or under a tree. Wherever you decide to work always be punctual. Show up at that space at all times you have scheduled even if it is just to sit and contemplate your creative life for the duration of your ‘appointment’.
Developing the ongoing regular habit is the important thing regardless of what you accomplish. At the beginning, just being there and available is the primary accomplishment.
JUST SHOW UP!
Always have a sketchbook or something where you write in the date and time of when you showed up and when you quit. Since you will have a pencil or pen in your hand start doodling, capture something, leave your mark on the day. Good enough. Again, at the beginning, showing up every time is the most important thing. Maybe it takes 6 months, maybe it takes a year but at some point, you will be locked in. Once the habit is locked in strongly, it is a guarantee of success.
It is not the years that makes a master, it is the hours.
Related:
Very good advice. Just show up for yourself. When our daughter started Creative Sprint several years ago, a month long practice, it made me get back into my studio every day. For just 15 min. And I realized that I didn’t need a whole day, which seemed daunting, but a daily practice of a few moments. And that really sparked my creativity. Their business motto-creativity is a practice. Worked for me.
I've never heard it put exactly like this. The being punctual part really struck me. Why are we punctual for OTHERS and respect other people's time and space, but then we lollygag on the way to OUR TIME and space. I make all the excuses and stop at the coffee shop to chat a little longer so I don't have to be in that uncomfortable space of TRYING to make. So thanks, I'm going to just show up. Even if I sit there and panic about all the things I should be making and I'm not yet making.