Creativity is a skill.
The more we practice, the more skilled we become.
Practice takes time.
Practice takes commitment.
Through practice, we develop a creative habit.
To develop a sustainable creative habit, you’ve got to learn to love the process.
Don’t put barriers up that aren’t really there.
And just get to work and make something.
It’s the journey not the destination.
The Commitment/Plan:
Show up day after day for 100 days of drawing or painting a dog…”100 dogs in 100 days”.
So off I went in search of dogs. Luckily there are plenty of them in the neighborhood running and playing on the beach. I would start my day heading to the beach. Once there, I would stop and ask if I could photograph the dogs, explaining “the 100 Day Project”, finding out their names, breed and age and then I would officially start my daily 4 mile run.
Self-Doubt:
I was not easy to sustain the day-after-day drawing and somewhere around Day 30 I started to waiver. I mentioned to a long-time friend and therapist that I didn’t think I could do it…and she said “Don’t think, Just do”. Her words struck a chord and I kept on going finding daily inspiration, reward and solace in the showing up and staying committed to the process…and just doing….
Letting go:
The urgency of creating one piece every day, amidst the activities of daily life, forced me to trust my creative intuition rather than thinking too much about the outcome. Each day I would pick a dog and an art medium and work until eventually I would have to call it “DONE”. No time for agonizing, fretting or second guessing…just let go.
Community
One of the best things about this project was the amazing sense of community that builds with the people around you. Online with others taking on “The 100 Day Project”, with friends near and far, and of course with all the people in the neighborhood and on the beach with their dogs.
Thank you:
Thanks to everyone who let me stop and take pictures of their dogs and alson those who sent me pictures of their dogs.
I am grateful to my friends and followers who supported me throughout this project. I could not have done it without their daily encouragement.
And lastly, Thank you Sophie, for being the best dog and my best friend. You graced my life for 16+ years with your unconditional love and exceptional “dogness”. Because of you, I took on “The 100 Day Project”—100 Dogs In 100 Days and finished!
I will do this again…as soon as I have an idea of what to do…