I didn't think it would happen this soon. I had this idea to blog about my experience in exploring songs I've written in the past, get them to the next level and have some demo recordings by the end. I was excited and I had a bunch of ideas to write about along the way.
But this past week, it happened, the project has started to feel like work. The shine has already worn off of the original idea a little. The initial excitement has died down a bit. In the past, when projects and ideas would hit a point like this where I would feel uncomfortable and bothered, I would proceed to passively allow them to slowly fade. Typically, I would then wait until the next idea would come along that would spark my interest and the cycle would start over again.
Is my attention span really that small? Yes, yes it is.
I can't be the only one
I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way. I think we all have full lives of jobs to work, family engagements to attend, kids to take care of and the like. After all of that, who really has time and energy to stick with a dream? Isn't it enough to just get by on those things that have to get done and then enjoy a little veg-time in front of the tv in the remaining spare moments?
That's certainly a valid choice you can make and has been mine in the past. However, I would argue that the kinds of dreams that I'm talking about, the album you always wanted to record, the poetry collection you always wanted to pull together and publish, the areas of service you always wanted to be more faithful to, are often the things that really make life the adventure that it is. These goals of stepping outside of our comfort zones and beyond the day-to-day will actually produce more life and more excitement than the "rest" we think we get by mindlessly watching another sitcom.
Now, don't get me wrong. Occasionally, I'm zonked from a long day of work and at that point there's nothing better than to chill on the couch in front of a good movie with my wife. But, are we using this down-time as an excuse to be lazy or as an occasional, intentional means of relaxation?
This time it's different
But despite my realization this week, I feel different this time around in making progress with The Living (un)Explored Project. Why? As I reflected on that question this week, I came up with several things that I have done differently than in past projects that I think has made a difference. These weren't really conscious things that I read in a step-by-step manual. They just kind of happened, though I think these decisions have been influenced by some of the great books I've been reading lately. I hope that maybe they will encourage you or give you ideas in your own creative journey to keep going once the initial shine wears off on your dream.
So here's a list in no particular order.
- I named the project. There seems to be a certain legitimacy to giving a project a name. See my first post for an exploration of that idea.
- I promised to post something every Monday. Yep, one reason I wrote in the header of this blog that I will post something every week was to help make myself actually do it. While it's no one's favorite thing to do, we all know that it really works to have accountability to our promises.
- I intentionally partnered with my wife, Katie. Katie and I are working to together on the project so that we could encourage one another and so that we could spend quality time together working on it. More accountability!
- We agreed on ambitious goals.
Katie and I made a particularly challenging goal for the overall first phase of the project. In addition, we laid out milestones, or smaller goals along the way, that will ultimately make way to the overall goal. More details about that in a future post, but suffice to say, it lights a fire under you when you know you have to work something consistently in order to achieve the timing of your goal. - I've tried to make the project and this blog about others.When we come to place of realizing that our lives are not really about us, there is a freedom to then do the things we were meant to do all along. If my goal is only about my own selfish desires, then my own laziness will win out most of the time.
- I've made it about discipline as well.One focus of this project is to use it as a means to develop healthy, productive patterns (aka discipline) in our lives. So, succeeding in fulfilling our goals will not only produce the recordings that we're excited to make, and the body of writing that I'm geeked about with these blog entries, but it will also mean that we have made more progress in our desire for discipline in our lives.
- I feel commissioned to put time and effort into this project.In all of us, there are things in our lives we feel like we are supposed to do. It' so easy for the many "good" things I have to do to get in the way of the "great" things that are for me uniquely to do. The primary way I try to figure out which are the "great" things is through spending time with God in prayer. In addition, I believe we've been designed such that we can look at the unique talents and gifts that we have and can often see how those can be used to serve others and make a difference in those around us--i.e to find our commissioning.
Bottom Line
We owe it to ourselves to work hard to excel in the gifts and talents we've been given.
I've been given many great things. And I know now more than ever that I didn't do anything to deserve them. I see these gifts to be my unique talents, inspiration and support from friends, great examples of hard work from my parents, and most importantly, my relationship with God. Anything I do from now on won't ever really warrant me deserving of these gifts, but at the same time, I have a deep desire to work, persevere and create FROM the place of having been given these great gifts.
And so I will continue writing and creating and doing and singing and playing and believing and praying that others will be touched with a gift of hope and encouragement along the way.
-Michael
What works for you to keep moving on a project even when the initial excitement dies down? What are some support structures you could put in place right now to help you through those times on your current project?
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