It’s the start of the new year, and if you’re like most people, you’re probably making at least a few goals for your creative life in 2020. Sometimes, though, all these challenges and new starts and resolutions can be overwhelming. Or you may start out motivated, but by February you’re back to your old habits and rhythms. Whether you struggle getting started or staying committed, try this tip that I’ve used for a while to create simple goals and help me keep them: identifying your stirs and steals.
What do I mean by this? I actually stole–er, borrowed–the terminology from a Bible study I was in, but it’s equally applicable to the creative life. Whatever you do, whether it’s writing or painting or podcasting, there are things that stir your creativity. It might be a different creative activity or spending time outdoors or hanging out with a friend. It might be something a little weird, like building Legos or watching dance videos or listening to a certain music album. It’ll be different for each person, and likely vary from day to day, but in general, you’ll know it when you feel it. Every time you do this activity, something in you flutters and you feel that urge to create, to make something and add to this glorious canon of creative work that already exists. For me, some of my stirs include going for a walk outside, watching a great movie, listening to the Hamilton soundtrack, and watching choreography videos. I can’t tell you why exactly these things work; all I know is that when I do them, I get that itch to write.
On the other hand, there are things that steal your creativity, or steal your attention from it. There are easy culprits that steal your attention, like watching TV or social media. These things are good in balance, of course, but it’s important to pay attention to how much you’re using them and if they’re stealing your attention away from creating rather than fueling it. A steal can be less obvious, though. If you’re a writer, it’s natural to assume that reading is a key part of your writing life, and it is! But just like TV or Twitter, you have to pay attention to how much you’re doing it and why. If reading book after book is keeping you from writing your own novel, then you may have to set limits on how much you read or create parameters like not reading while you’re trying to write a first draft.
It can also be hard to identify what is stealing your creativity, not just your attention from it. For me, if I have too much noise on, whether it’s music or a podcast or TV in the background, I lose the ability to hear my own creative voice. I don’t just mean while I’m trying to write–throughout my day, if I don’t spend enough time in quiet where I can explore my own thoughts and daydreams, then I don’t have enough creative energy to write. Now that I’m aware of this, I know to be more intentional with what I have on in the background, but it took a lot of time and trial and error to recognize background noise steals my creative energy. For many people, your job or school might steal creativity, and there’s not much you can do about that immediately. But knowing that can help you work on ways to alleviate it–can you spend your commute in a way that refills your creative energy? Or your lunch break? And it also allows you to be more forgiving to yourself when you get home night after night feeling too drained to create. It’s not that you’ve lost the ability to create; your day is just full of something else stealing your creativity.
Once you’ve identified your stirs and steals, the next step is pretty straightforward: do more of what stirs your creativity, and less of what steals it. As I mentioned above, sometimes it’s not as easy as we’d like, if our steals are what allows us to pay rent. But having that list of stirs and steals is good to know about yourself and your creative process. It can also help with the new year overwhelm. If you want to create a goal but don’t know where to start, look at your stirs and steals. How can you incorporate more stirs, and decrease the steals in your life? How can that become a resolution? If you’ve already got a goal but you tend to not follow through, how can you leverage your stirs and steals to set yourself up for success this year?
Once you have a list of stirs and steals, don’t let it become stagnant. Go back to evaluate it every so often. Does something that used to stir you no longer inspire you as much? Take it off the list. Or maybe you’ve discovered something to add that stirs you. Is there a new distraction in your life? Add it to the steals list and commit to being aware of how you’re spending your time with it. Being aware of what stirs our creativity and what steals it is crucial to maintaining a healthy creative life and avoiding burn out.
What are stirs and steals in your creative life? How do you plan do incorporate this information into your 2020 goals? Let me know in the comments!
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Featured image by Fred Kearney
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