Years ago, when I was going through a creative rut, I decided to take action and commit to making ten drawings a day for at least one month. I used inexpensive paper, a pen, and began. The only guideline was to make ten drawings a day. It didn't matter what I drew or how well I drew it, what mattered was to make ten drawings every day.
This exercise changed the way I understood creativity. It made me realize that what mattered was to make the space to explore, and to do it diligently every day. Slowly, as my inner judge quieted down, I began to connect to a space where time and identity disappeared and I became one with the act of drawing, thoughtless, present and absorbed.
In his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi describes this state by explaining that when your psychic energy is fully engaged in a task with specific goals, achievable challenges, and no distractions, this energy expands, and you emerge with a strengthened sense of self. This is why we choose to keep doing those activities that although may not be easy, or effortless, are deeply satisfying.
In time, I discovered that the more I drew, the more I observed the world around me, the more ideas I got, and the more alive I felt. My mood improved, I felt more confident, and my life felt more meaningful. I became an explorer, a documenter of all that crossed my path. I also found I could combine my many interests in fashion, film, literature and crafts under one umbrella: drawing. As I drew, I created my own world, one where I set the rules of what was possible.
Today, drawing continues to be my playground. It is the most direct way for me to connect with my well of ideas and to think on paper. Drawing is my daily meditation and the place where my strongest work comes from.
This exercise changed the way I understood creativity. It made me realize that what mattered was to make the space to explore, and to do it diligently every day. Slowly, as my inner judge quieted down, I began to connect to a space where time and identity disappeared and I became one with the act of drawing, thoughtless, present and absorbed.
In his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi describes this state by explaining that when your psychic energy is fully engaged in a task with specific goals, achievable challenges, and no distractions, this energy expands, and you emerge with a strengthened sense of self. This is why we choose to keep doing those activities that although may not be easy, or effortless, are deeply satisfying.
In time, I discovered that the more I drew, the more I observed the world around me, the more ideas I got, and the more alive I felt. My mood improved, I felt more confident, and my life felt more meaningful. I became an explorer, a documenter of all that crossed my path. I also found I could combine my many interests in fashion, film, literature and crafts under one umbrella: drawing. As I drew, I created my own world, one where I set the rules of what was possible.
Today, drawing continues to be my playground. It is the most direct way for me to connect with my well of ideas and to think on paper. Drawing is my daily meditation and the place where my strongest work comes from.
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Quote by Kate Forsyth.
