Daily Nourishment for September 21, 2024: Let Go of What Doesn’t Serve You and Your Creativity with Guidance from Micky ScottBey Jones
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 50 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 15 minutes
“If it's going to take me getting up at 5:00 AM, I'm probably, I'm never going to do it.” - Micky ScottBey Jones
Pause.
Take a few deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale. Then do a few rounds of a breath prayer or meditation using the following:
Inhale: Be here now.
Exhale: Be who I am now.
Prompt.
Read this quote from Micky ScottBey Jones on how she can learn from other writers and their creative practices while still doing what she needs to do for herself (from the IG Live we did on the upcoming Spiritual Direction for Writers + Enneagram for Creativity Gathering on Sept 27-28):
“I can appreciate that's how that person got it done. And maybe there's a little gem in there I can pick for myself, but I don't have to be them… Our personalities are just different.
I can read that profile [of a writer] and be like, oh, they're really different from me. Or, oh, this was interesting. I can see myself there and maybe I could pull that little piece…
But I don't feel like I need to morph into them, and that is really helpful.”
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And here’s more from Jones on the same topic:
“We have our writers that we love and we want to be like them. We even might think we're kind of like them in a lot of ways.
I love Alice Walker and I've met Alice Walker. She's brilliant. She's very spicy, the way she shows up in her journals and all of that. She's the same person today as when you read through her journals, but she's one of those—she got up 5:00 AM to write before her daughter got up. She would sit under a tree and the characters from The Color Purple came and spoke to her. And I was like, that is wonderful and not me. It's probably not going to be me, and that's okay, but are there other pieces that I can glean from her? Great, I'll do those things. But if it's going to take me getting up at 5:00 AM I'm probably, I'm never going to do it.”
Practice.
Set a timer for seven minutes and take notes or journal in response to the quotes above and/or questions below.
Which writers, artists, and musicians inspire you in your creative practice?
What have you learned from them about the creative life?
What are some examples of advice you’ve heard from others that help you make the art you want to make?
What are some examples of advice that keep you from moving forward in your creative practice?
What’s one thing that you keep trying to do with regard to your writing or other creative work that you might need to let go of because it’s not serving you or your creativity?
Want More?
—Watch the entire IG Live with Micky ScottBey Jones and me
—Register for Spiritual Direction for Writers + Enneagram for Creativity Gathering on Sept 27-28.
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Workshops, Gatherings, & Resources
—New Resource: Parenting with Art® Lectio Divina Cards Information about ordering these cards can be found in my Books + Spiritual Direction + Retreats & Gatherings email newsletter that went out last night. To stay in the loop on all of my work, writing, book recs, and more, subscribe to that weekly newsletter at charlottedonlon.com/subscribe.
—The September Co-Writing calendar is live.
—Spiritual Direction for Writers® + Enneagram for Creativity Gathering will take place on Friday, September 27th and Saturday, September 28th. You can register here. All registered participants will have access to recordings.
—The Great Belonging Project is live here and The Great Belonging Project October Refresh will take place Oct 1-Oct 31.
Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
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