Feel the rhythm
How do you separate your art and life when you are a working artist?
At the end of the day, the creative process seeps through all your life, right? And being a working artist means that you get to do it all, work when you feel like and live any time you like!
Some of us would think this is an amazing way to live your life but what I hear from some of the artists that I work with is that at the same time, they find it stressful.
Setting some healthy boundaries between “creating art” and “managing the sales side” and juggling all the other elements of their life, like kids, partners, home, rest, fun, friends, used to be a way to bring in some “order into the chaos”; but what if you already tried this and it’s either super hard for you or even not working at all, is there an other way forward?
Yep, totally!
Let’s talk about replacing your schedule with a rhythm.
Rhythms come more naturally to us than schedules, I see this as a more feminine approach, more connected, allowing more space for creativity.
Schedules can be a bit robotic, and while they work sometimes, I often feel the need to break out of them, and then I feel bad for not sticking with my schedule and then, all of a sudden, I can find myself sliding into a spiral of disappointment and defeat. Does this sound familiar?
Plus, it’s really hard to schedule creativity.
So, go for rhythms instead.
The key for a good daily rhythm is simplicity. And space. Rhythms help you by not allowing tasks to enslave you.
When you connect with yourself and you become curious about your rhythms, you will discover the rhythm in your day, in the week, in your months, in the year. All of a sudden everything is a symphony!
Imagine a set beat to your day that fully resonates with your own inner rhythm! Imagine you can easy recognise this, it’s your personal tune.
The basis of your rhythm are those things you want to accomplish each day; each morning, afternoon, evening.
Take a piece of paper and jot them down. It’s a fascinating exercise if you have never done this before. You suddenly see, with absolute clarity, what you do each day, the regular activities that make up the basics of your everyday life as a working artist.
Now, some of your days may be very similar, others quite different. For example, my Mondays and Tuesdays are for writing content, my Wednesdays are for clients and Saturdays are domestic. Look into your own week and feel into the rhythms of your own week days.
To figure out the rhythm of your day, look at the activities you focus on in the morning, afternoon and evening.
Did you know that a good day starts in the evening? So, just before you go to bed, write up what would you like to accomplish next day. Chunk these activities up in morning activities, afternoon activities, evening activities. Don’t allocate time slots, keep them as chunks of time. Keep them nice and aired. Know that your mind is already working on those tasks while you sleep. Expect success. Imagine all your tasks getting done with ease and with joy. Then mentally let go of your tomorrow and do something relaxing before you go to sleep. You need not to concern yourself anymore with these, tomorrow you’ll go with the flow, today you created a beautiful frame for your tomorrow. Trust and sleep tight.
To execute your rhythm, choose one activity from the list you created yesterday. Get it done. Then move on to an other one. Allow space for life to happen in between. Remember that you are not alone at this. When you know what you want and you go for it, the whole Universe conspires to help you make it happen. Keep an eye out for serendipitous events popping into your day, the right people connecting with you, signs, help, support, love, path of least resistance. When opportunities come take advantage of them. Also remember cosmic timing, remain focused even when it takes you a bit longer to get through your list than you envisioned.
Over time you will start to really feel the rhythm of your day. This is a practice. If you are new to this please remember to be patient with yourself while you are learning.
By giving yourself room to grow your art-related business in a connected, flowy, natural way, you step away from stress and overwhelm into a beautiful rhythm, open to opportunities that show themselves along the way.