Inspired this morning by Matthew Carey’s blog, The Infinite Creative.

Matthew writes “What can you work on today that will in turn be a gift to your future self?..Contributing to your daily practice – meditation, reach outs, creative practice, workout/training”

I value regular practice as an essential process in living with Vitality. Regular practice or habit of what? For me this includes eating an abundance of brightly coloured vegetables and quality protein most days, exercising most days, seeking soul food and connection most days and ample sleep. Some people would say this takes a lot of self-discipline. I say it’s easier when health and spiritual well-being are high values and when these activities become habits. Woven into your daily or weekly schedule as easily as brushing your teeth.

You might notice that what is missing from this list is creative practice. Reading Matthew’s words were an Aha in this respect. Yes, I have learned in this year, in Seth Godin’s Akimbo workshop The Creative Workshop the value of a daily creative practice. I sometimes tell practice members who are struggling to exercise, just walk for ten minutes. It’s doable, it’s better than not moving at all, and you never know, when you start you might just walk for longer.

The old saying that it takes 21 days to make a habit is not true. The saying was based on a book written in the 1960’s about habituation. Habituation is how long it takes you to get used to something, for example, you have a new hair style, it takes on average 21 days before you look in the mirror without noticing it. More recent research suggests it takes on average 56 days to establish a new habit.

Now I have been writing daily for twice this length of time. Is it a habit?

Your creative practice may be drawing, cooking, craft, music or something else that you love to immerse yourself in. If you haven’t identified your preferred creative expression yet go back to your childhood and think about what sort of games or activities you most enjoyed. Then think how revisiting that activity could be a creative practice.