Does it ever seem that life “crowds out” your cherished creative projects? To quote, Saturday Night Live’s Roseanne Roseannadanna, “It’s always something!”
Virtual daily coffee klatching for creativity (see yesterday’s post) keeps the projects you’re passionate about front and center. You commit to daily progress. If you don’t follow through, the next day you have a chance to recommit to your project because your partners hold you accountable. Your partners also gently invite you to look honestly at what kept you from following through. Hearing your own explanation may help you decide whether you had a legitimate “excuse” or bumped into some sabotaging thoughts that you took seriously.
Here are a couple of additional points for making your creativity partnering successful.
Decide how often you want to meet with a partner (daily, every other day, weekly) and choose someone willing to make the same level of commitment.
If at all possible choose a regular time—meeting at the same time with consistency tends to build the strength of the partnership; that said, be willing to be flexible when special needs come up.
Perhaps most importantly, decide ahead of time how you want to use your time. What purpose will the call serve for each partner? Is the purpose general, such as maintaining focus and motivation. Or does the purpose revolve around accomplishing a specific project?
Will each person report in and address certain issues each morning? Some examples of questions to use are: what’s my goal for today? what do I need from my partners today? what obstacles could come up today that I need to plan in advance for? how will I reward myself for accomplished work?
Or, do you want to be more flexible and spontaneous and “dance in the moment” with whatever coaching each partner needs?
Periodically, check in with your partners to discuss whether the calls are effective. Relationships are always a process, so allow enough time and experimentation to get to a place where the calls are working well for all partners.
Finally, remind yourself not to take it personally when a creative partnership dissolves. As a friend of mine says, “relationships can be meant for a reason, a season and a lifetime.” It helps when a particular partnership has served its purpose to decide to release it and wait receptively for the next…
I’d love to hear from you if you’ve tried some form of creative partnering and have ideas about how to do it well…
Posted by Linda Sandel Pettit on 06/06 at 02:40 PM in |
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