Would it be terribly punny of me to say that creatives are creative with their New Year’s resolutions? Check out this calligrapher who in 2015 hand-lettered the entire Book of Proverbs. Absolutely stunning, not to mention a work of perseverance and inspiration.
Creative resolutions are wonderful exercises for those of us who make a living on our ideas. They challenge us to try new things. They broaden our thinking. They combat the dreaded creative block. How do I know this? Easy. Over the years I’ve made a gazillion resolutions, from photo-a-days to sketch-a-days, from gratitude journals to blogging. Some resolutions I kept faithfully, others I lost interest by week two. And through them all, I’ve come away a more creative and focused professional.
Because I have a short attention span (multipotentialism—how exciting there’s now a label for us :-), I’ve learned my most successful creative resolutions are year-long blogs. Twelve months is ample time for me to master a topic and ramp my writing skills. Posting once a week, give or take, doesn’t overwhelm my schedule, yet it requires some major self-discipline. By the end of twelve months I’ll be completely bored of the blog, but I know if I stick it through I’ll feel highly accomplished.
So that’s what I’m doing.
My creative resolution for 2017 is a year-long blog called Project Creativity. What is creativity? Why is creativity important? How we can further our creativity? These are some of the discussions I hope to cover. I’ve done a lot of research on the subject, but all the books and studies have nothing on a broad scope of personal experiences. That’s why I’m hoping you’ll participate in this exciting project.
That means you! Whether you’re a creative professional or creative as a door knob, please participate. Please peruse regularly and offer lots of comments—you know what they say, it’s the comments that make a blog.
And, hey, have an awesome 2017!