Last summer, I saw a video on YouTube that suggested a 90-day creativity challenge (if I find it, I'll link it below - it wasn't any of the videos that come up if I search "90 day creativity challenge" so I'll have to dig through my history I guess).
The idea was that every time you feel like mindlessly scrolling, you CREATE. Something. Anything. Draw. Write. Knit. Cook. Weave. Talk. Sing. Dance. Invent. Colour. Like I said, anything.
There was a brief description of how it goes: at first, it's weird and cringe and uncomfortable, but then slowly, you start to get used to it and discover that creating really is your natural state of flow.
I was in my dumbify-my-smartphone era, so that sounded really appealing.
Even though the idea is that you can create anything, I know myself, so I got the weapons of my choice: a pocket notebook and a pen.
How it went for me
Honestly, in the beginning it was odd. A bit uncomfortable. A bit cringe. A bit weird.
But it also felt familiar.
When I was younger, I would write and doodle all the time. Basically, any time I was not reading, I was writing and doodling.
And this black notebook brought it back to me.
Well, my challenge lasted about a week. I think we travelled somewhere, and somewhere along the way, while travelling, I slid back into my old habits.
But the notebook is still here.
I still use it every now and then.
And I love it.
The lessons we learned along the way
I started this post with the intention to report on my experience with this 90-day challenge and invite you to consider doing it if it seems intriguing, but now, we have arrived at a more important message.
Which is to recognise that everything you do is just an experiment. And you are always allowed to give yourself grace if you didn't do 100% of it, while not denying yourself the benefits of what you did do.
What I mean to say is that years ago, I would have seen this 90-day challenge as only having two outcomes:
- success (I completed all 90 days without ever mindlessly scrolling and always replacing that with creating something), or:
- failure (anything else).
This hardcore all-or-nothing goal might be great for someone else, but I have had enough of that kind of thinking when I was younger and have no interest in it anymore. I am very happy and grateful to have encountered this challenge and to have done it the way I did.
From the challenge, I got some invaluable experiences and, as mentioned above, I still have and use the notebook.
It reminds me of the Steven Ravnstag quote, "If you end up disappointed, you started out wrong." I think of this quote often, and it has reshaped my approach to how I do things. What I love about it is that it points out the importance of how you enter something - and that will determine how you feel at the end of it.
This applies to this challenge as well as starting any writing projects. Remember: it's all an experiment and no matter how it turns out, you will learn something from it and you will be better off.
So consider this your invitation to try out the 90-day challenge for yourself - and your permission slip to do it imperfectly.
Until next time,
Katja
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Bonus
I thought I'd add a few pages from my notebook here because I know you're interested 😊
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