Freedom to Create

The ingredients of creativity can probably be boiled down to three elements: Time, Regimen and Fun. Let’s start with the 86,400 seconds (TIME) we all have in a day. Beauty, fame nor fortune can buy you extra and once it’s spent, that’s a wrap. Time spends energy and creativity hinges on the energy to think outside of familiar patterns. The case in point is going on vacation or leaving a home for a couple of weeks. Suddenly you write more, read more and think about possibilities that never cross your mind during the grind.

REGIMEN is the quintessential sign of commitment. Without routine there can be no freedom to create. In a game situation variables are everywhere forcing you to react and respond based on instincts. But if those instinctive reactions are not matched with muscle memory, the result is failure because creativity is missing necessary fuel. Simply put, you have to practice basics to be able to freelance later. The true professionals in sports are exceptional because they are inventive, not necessarily because they are more athletic than their counterparts. And they are inventive because they’ve familiarized mind with body.

FUN is our black sheep. It is the expendable component because we separate work from fun living for a weekend that sure enough comes but definitely doesn’t stay. But here’s a question, “If fun is a necessary part of creativity how can you ever expect to enjoy what you do for a living, for a ministry, for a charity, etc. if it’s all drudgery?” You can’t and you never will.

I’ve learned that I come alive when I set aside time, establish regimen and involve fun in my vocation – the thing I was born to do. I never thought I could write and maybe you say, “You can’t.” Point taken, but every morning I make time and I think every morning constitutes a regimen. And I’m having the time of my life writing about the things that matter most to me as Christian/Jock/Husband/Coach/etc.