What is a daily creative practice? Reflection by Celeste

As part of our core work for this summer, we are taking on the challenge of defining and doing a daily creative practice. The components of that practice including: physical practice (because we dance and we need to keep our instrument tuned) and creative practice in the form of making; and reflection. This could be dancing, drawing, journaling, making music, costuming, etc. Because this is our “research” project we will also find a way to document/reflecting on our daily practice. From a micro and meta perspective.

MAKING. What is a daily making practice?

I understand how hard this is. As an independent artist for over forty years, I have had to commit to a daily creative practice as survival! If I wanted to make it (we can dig into ideas of what it means to be successful, to “make it” at another time) I needed to be creating work. In my case – dances. And I needed to find audiences for those performances. I needed to find producers. I needed to find funding. I needed to get the work out there. I needed to build networks. (if a tree falls…) But most importantly – without the thing (the dance) there was nothing. I had to be making on a regular basis, and because I dance I also needed to be training in my craft (articulate, expressive, physicality and physical imagination).

Because of my form (dance-performance art) I need to be physically training all the time. This took (takes) the form of a personal physical practice that I do daily, enhanced by studying different dance forms, taking classes in yoga, T’ai Chi and physical activities like swimming, walking, hiking. I also have taken, and do take, workshops and classes in a wide range of activity including singing, drawing, sculpture.

Because I am me – I also read. A lot. Theory, fiction, policy. Once someone said, “You must spend all your time in the studio.” To which I replied, “I spend at least an equal amount of time in the library”. (This was before internet…)

And I have “mindfulness” time. I don’t have a regular meditation practice, but I use tools from meditation, spiritual practices, and community-engagement practices.

I understand how hard this is for some people. I come to it naturally. I am self-motivated. My learning aha! about self-motivated practice came about like this. Here is a story.

When I was in High School the world was changing rapid fire. The sixties/seventies erupting around us. I was in HS during the Viet Nam War, I protested against the war on weekends – often trying to choose between taking dance class, or attending the protests. The Sexual Revolution. Peace and Love. And education was also changing.

For my particular educational experience, I landed in a fortunate fluke. In my senior year, because of scheduling, I was moved out of the honors track into the general track. (Before this moment I didn’t even know my school had tracks.) My first week in “general” history class instead of “honors” caused a kerfluffle. Leading to the teacher and admin deciding I couldn’t stay in the general class, but what to do with me? An insightful history teacher came up with this plan. Supply me with the syllabus for the history to be covered (WWI and WW II) in 12th grade history, and turn me loose in the library. I was told I could read anything that had to do with the time period – fiction or non-fiction; poetry or art history… So to study, let’s say “D-Day” I was let loose to read whatever I could find in whatever genre. I was to go (by myself, unsupervised) to the library during class time, read, explore, and produce a paper once a week. HEAVEN!!!! I was in heaven. I didn’t have a formal class with teacher-led discussions with classmates, but my small circle of hippie-friends and I talked the concepts and ideas continuously, laced into our nascent social awareness and consciousness development.

This is all to say. Self-guided and self-directed practice works for me. I recognize that this is not easy for everyone. I encourage my team to try and do self-guided and self-directed practice this summer. As an experiment for yourself.

I have a semi-regular schedule, that is also flexible. Because… life.

Now its summer. So I don’t have to block in teaching and prep into my schedule. But here is my strategy.

On Sundays I draw a block of the week into my notebook. To prepare I begin with two columns. One column is “timed” and the other is “to do”. Timed are those meetings, etc that have to happen at a certain time (to which I also add travel time, if that will impact timing). In the other column I list things I hope to do, but that are on my own timing. In this column are things that might continue from week to week, that may or may not get attended to during a specific week….

Here’s a snap shot of my list for the week. You can see that I draw little boxes next to the “to do” items. I find it satisfying to check them off once I have done them. I don’t enter in the dog walks, because they just happen in and around everything else. Some weeks there are more social activities. Some weeks there are deadlines.

Then I draw out a block for the week. And I transfer things from this list to the block week calendar. Sometimes I move things from the “To Do” list onto the calendar, other times, I just turn to my to-do list when I have open blocks of time, and choose what is calling me. I don’t do more than one week at a time. (I find that too overwhelming)

Sometimes I like to draw in boxes so I can see the open spaces in my week, breathing spaces. That I can fill with things from my “to do”, or not!

Here is your challenge for the week. Try this particular method for two weeks. We are now entering week #3 of our MAP. We have five weeks to go. Try this method, then adapt, change, invent anew for the remaining weeks of the MAP. If you leave with one thing from this MAP – leave with thoughts about what it means to commit to making creative practice a part of your life, that doesn’t get subsumed by other things. I too can easily forget to prioritize Creative Practice.

Why should we? Is another topic, and something for us to muse on. For this summer, you are engaged as Artists. So to prioritize Creative Practice in pursuit of our MAP is at the core of the work we are doing. Just think – you are getting paid, and receiving 4-credits, to prioritize Creative Practice!!!!