I am quite surprised, and I probably shouldn’t have been, about how closely related creativity and discipline are. Growing up, I saw numerous images, movies, novels which cast the creative types – the artistes – in the light of the free-spirited and unstructured characters. And there was almost always the subtext of unconventional equals indiscipline.
But yo! my own journey into channeling my creativity and expressing it suggests the opposite. It takes incredible discipline to do “your thing.” There is nothing simple about writing. It takes dedication, habit, regimen, and continuous learning. Even as I dig deep to find a way for these stories to become more than thoughts and fantasies in my head, I am struck by the amount of time it takes to type shit out!
I realized – possibly this year more than any other time in my life – that I want to get better at writing and this requires a daily habit. And while it is not very easy given work commitments, I finally reached a point where I had to make a decision on whether or not I wanted to be disciplined about this craft. It takes effort to confront your thoughts on paper and be critical about them. It takes strength and great honesty to be able to balance the innovation and the convention – because you won’t believe how many rules there are about good writing and bad writing.
It seems that I had a false belief about being a writer. That it happened organically. That you were either blessed with the gift or not. That it is a life that found you. That it was crafted in the stars. That it was all supposed to click together on one fine day. And when it clicked, I would have a book that I hadn’t struggled even one bit to writer. That I would be so inspired by this story that I would write it effortlessly. And just like that I would be a best selling romance novelist. And while I am not ruling out such a scenario entirely, I think I have realized and accepted a simple truth: being a writer requires more than a fair share of self efficacy. Like other great disciplines in my life, I have to work at it, put in the time, and my body/soul/mind will reward me with the welling up of beauty and the courage to share it with others.
There is no indiscipline in creativity and artistry.