Reflecting: Journey through June
It has been about two weeks since this journey through the June challenge has ended and I have now had some time to reflect on what the challenge actually did for me. I started the challenge because I was tired of feeling like I was being led around by my art. Sounds weird. But let me explain.
When I would create in the past, it was almost at the whim of the ever-fickle muse. She would appear and I would have to be ready to spring into action at any moment. I would rush to set up, make sure I was getting the shot, forfeiting when I didn’t, and pushing through to make sure I did. Then it would be like my strings were cut and I would need to sit down for a few hours after because of how much frantic energy creating like that would require of me. But every time, there was always something missing. But I could never really put my finger on it. I mean I was happy with what I did, but there always felt like there could be more than that.
So here comes June, I was leaving my job at a cafe and I knew I was going to have some time to just rest. Considering I had just recovered from the Rona just two weeks back. So I knew that while I was resting in June, I wanted to challenge myself to something. To make creating a priority and not an afterthought. To coax inspiration out of life and not just wait for it to fall into my lap or tug on my hair. I wanted something that would make me learn to prioritize creation in a way that I never really did before. And so this idea came about. Create something every day. The rules were simple, create, edit and post. That was it. There was no specific time to post or create, no parameters but those. So I did.
Let me be honest here, some days it was easier, especially those first few days when everything seems so new and you are so open to everything and anything is an inspiration. Then week 2 comes. That is when you start to realize, ” oh. this isn’t going to be as easy as I thought”. You have to dig deep and remain open to the things that are happening around you. Maybe today your inspiration comes from the book you saw in passing at the bookstore, other days it’s just sitting at home scrolling and letting the ideas come in the form of other creatives. Then come the days you make really bad art and you try to get it to work and it doesn’t. So you step away and come back again and realize that you just had to get the bad out before there was enough room to let the good in.
Another thing I learned doing this challenge is that no one but you is going to question whether you make creation a priority. I had to learn to put up boundaries around the time I was taking to create because it was sacred. To not be disturbed between 2-4 pm and if you wanted to make plans with me, it had to either be before or after those hours. I realized that I had to hold space for that and no one but me was going to do it. It felt refreshing but also scary to say, “sorry I can’t make it, I have work to do at that time.” and it was work. Just a different kind of work to what everyone else is used to.
So all in all, maybe it will become a challenge I do every year. Or maybe it was just a one-off. This is the first challenge I have ever set for myself creatively that I actually completed (heh). Who knows. I just know that it was a challenge that has changed the way that I do business and also how I approach my own art. Maybe next year, we can all journey through June together.
