Do What You’re Meant to Do
Week 6, Day 3 of The Artist's Way
Today, let's get clarity on what we are really meant to do by tuning into what we really want to do.
THE GREAT CREATOR (continued)
Making art begins with making hay while the sun shines.
It begins with getting into the now and enjoying your day. It begins with giving yourself some small treats and breaks. “This is extravagant but so is God” is a good attitude to take when treating your artist to small bribes and beauties. Remember, you are the cheapskate, not God. As you expect God to be more generous, God will be able to be more generous to you.
What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do.
When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.
We will continue to work this week with our ideas surrounding money. We will see how our ideas about money (“It’s hard to get. You have to work long hours for it. You need to worry about money first and creativity second”) shape our ideas about creativity.
(The Artist's Way, 2016, p. 108)
What I really what to do is what I am really meant to do.
download printable affirmation card
COUNTING EXERCISE
For the next week you will be discovering how you spend your money. Buy a small pocket notepad and write down every nickel you spend. It doesn’t matter what it is for, how tiny the purchase, how petty the amount. Petty cash is still cash.
Each day, date a page and count—what you bought, what you spent, where your money went, whether it was for groceries, lunch in a diner, a cab ride, subway fares, or a loan to your brother. Be meticulous. Be thorough. And be nonjudgmental. This is an exercise in self-observation—not self-flagellation.
You may want to continue this practice for a full month or longer. It will teach you what you value in terms of your spending. Often our spending differs from our real values. We fritter away cash on things we don’t cherish and deny ourselves those things we do. For many of us, counting is a necessary prelude to learning creative luxury.
“Always leave enough time in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, even joyous. That has more of an effect on economic well-being than any other single factor.”
– Paul Hawken
What is one type of “work” you've done that felt like play?
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