Question: What is the Number 1 excuse used by people when it comes to procrastinating?
Hint: Think about yourself and the excuses you tend to use... and what tops your list?
Answer: The top of the list of excuses by far is feeling there isn't enough "time"in the day to do what we really want to do.
Money comes in second place. That topic I will save for a different blog article. But, for today, I am keeping with the vein of time and how it works seamlessly with genius.
There is a fantastic book written by Susan Cheever called American Bloomsbury. In it she looks at some of the greatest literary giants in American history. Focusing primarily on the "genius cluster" in Concord, Massachusetts in the 1850s.
What is a Genius Cluster?
Genius cluster is a term used to describe a few individuals in a very specific geographic area that directly influenced each other. And this influence gravitated out to lift these individuals to higher planes of ideas, inspirations and creative endeavors.
Think Greece's Golden Age of philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. Renaissance Italy's Art revival with incredibly talented painters, sculptors and inventors like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello. The American Revolutionary Founding Fathers like Washington, Hamilton, Adams, Jay, Jefferson and Madison.
Genius clusters have baffled and amazed people for years. Long after the men and/or women of the given time period are long gone their work, influence and legend lives on for decades, centuries and sometimes millennia.
The cluster I am focusing on here is the Concord cluster. Think Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Thoreau, Emerson, Herman Melville and Emily Dickinson.
All were living in this rather small dot on a map way before telephones, wifi, and the internet. Yet, they became very good friends. Often meeting in public houses or at one another's houses.
These were very, very busy people. In fact, Henry David Thoreau typically worked six days a week at his parents pencil making factory. The ultimate irony because he later dies of lead poisoning. When he stayed at Walden pond for 2 1/2 years at his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson's property, it was the only time he ever took off for himself.
Herman Melville, who is best known for his work Moby Dick, had a variety of jobs. From sailor, to newspaper journalist to poet. It took him several years to write Moby Dick. He made a point to carve time out of his extremely busy schedule to pen it.
Louisa May Alcott was very sickly in the years that she wrote Little Women. She had been bedridden for quite some time. Doctors were in and out of the house frequently checking on her, prescribing medication and attending to her.
Yet, despite all this disruption circling around her illness, she still found time to write this timeless classic.
My point in bringing up these famous examples is that they found time. No. They made time. Intention is the name of the game here. There is the old saying about "when the muse is ready, let her create."
Saying Yes to the Creative Muse Angel
When your angel of creativity is primed and ready she needs to come through.
Be it through art, writing, cooking, gardening, singing, music, or perhaps teaching and sharing with others. It matters not what she looks like for you. The importance is in allowing her to flow without hindrance.
Most people I know actually have more time in their day than they realize.
How many hours a day are logged on social media, gossiping with friends or watching television? Quite a few. More than most are willing to admit. I would wager to bet that if you were to really look at your day you have time.
The illusion and myth that "real artists" or "real writers" or "real musicians", etc... need to be completely consumed by their passion and do nothing else has literally frozen many talented folks.
The truth is we are not only capable but quite beautifully designed to handle many tasks. The key, or secret if you will, is on focused awareness.
I have found it beneficial to write down the three most important tasks I need to accomplish during the day. These tasks are what I really do need to work on to get my creative juices flowing and keep them flowing.
Today my 3 major tasks are:
Record a video of Chico & the Angels Message
Work on Angel Card Messages of the Day posts for Social media.
Finish a blog article for next week.
I have a few other things I'd like to fit in during the day, but they’re not my primary focus. I will most likely get to a few of them. Checking and responding to Facebook posts fall in to this category.
Another helpful hint is to make necessary errands and appointments later in the day. Preferably after 3 p.m.. I find that I am most creative and energized in the morning and early afternoon. If I disrupt this flow I find it's difficult to get back in the flow.
So, I am definitely looking to stack the deck in my favor.
I don't always know what the muse has to say on any given day, but I do know that when I intentionally make time to allow her through she takes care of the details.
Whatever your creative endeavor is for you, do yourself a favor and make it a priority. Give it the respect it deserves. Even if you only have 30 minutes or one hour to devote to your creativity, do it!
Embrace and unleash your inner genius, my friend.
Your Turn:
What have you done in your life to carve time out of the day in dedication to you? Type in the comments below so we can all share in your success.
I wish you a beautiful rest of your day.
With love and light,
Joanna
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