about the 10 Minute Rule

Last weekend, I got coffee with my dear friend Sarah and we talked about making things.  We talked about the things we want to create someday and about how to get there and about why we want to make them. It was so life-giving. I left thinking "why don't we do this more??" I say that generally --

why don't we spend more time asking questions of and talking about our creativity?  

In her book Cold Tangerines, Shauna Niequist writes "We're desperate for great storytellers, great painters, great dancers, great cooks, because art does something nothing else does." She goes on to say that each of us, as we reflect the one who made us, is a creator. I love that, because it is simple and it is true.

Creation is important.  And we all create. 

The more I think of those two facts, the more I fall in love with them.  I love the idea of a world where we are celebrating the making of things rather than the conveniences that can allow us to skip that process.  I love the idea of a world where people are not categorized into "creatives" and "non-creatives".

As a way of taking small baby steps toward that place, I'm implementing a 10 Minute Rule into my life. The rule is simple - for 10 minutes everyday, I'm going to make something.  It could be a poem, a playlist (making yours today, Maria!), a funny haiku for a friend, rearranging some bedroom shelves, a dance routine, baking a new type of cookie, etc. etc.  It can be anything where I am taking something old and breathing new life into it, or birthing something brand new that never existed before.

I'm doing it because I think that creativity is so important that I have to fight for it and protect it.  The romantic in me wants all my artistic explorations to be spontaneous explosions of genius, but I don't think it works that way.  We all, some more than others, have to learn the discipline to be creative.  We have to sloth through it when our minds feel intimidated by the work.  In the same way that we drag ourselves to the gym to maintain our bodies, let's drag ourselves deep into our creative selves.  Let's improve and maintain our God-given capabilities for creating.


PS. if you're looking for some some gems to add to your reading list on this topic, may I suggest: Walking on Water by Madeline L'Engle (I LOVE THIS BOOK with a burning passion.  Although I don't agree with much of her personal theology, L'Engle is a wildly imaginative writer (please read A Wrinkle In Time if you haven't, because until you do we can't be friends) and has some important thoughts on the process of making things; Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (her section on Shitty First Drafts revolutionized how I write and the grace I've learned to give myself); Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch (currently making my way through this one. I'm enjoying the more academic approach to why we create and how we can influence culture by our creation rather than our condemnation)