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THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL IN A CREATIVE PERSON’S LIFE… Dear Ones, Do you want t…
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL IN A CREATIVE PERSON'S LIFE…
Dear Ones,
Do you want to be a writer? A musician? An artist? A maker of any sort or variety whatsoever?
Do you long to express yourself, to create, to innovate, to (as Kurt Vonnegut taught us yesterday) "experience becoming"?
Well, then. Today I introduce you to the most important tool in your arsenal: The humble kitchen timer.
Do you own one of these? If you don't own one, can you afford to go out and buy one? Do you maybe have a more modern interpretation of this device already on your smartphone?
Good.
Now here is what you do. At some point today, you sit down and set that timer for 30 minutes. Work on your craft or your project without interruption or distraction. Doesn't have to be major work — just has to be focused work. Don't get up from your seat until the timer dings. Then do the same thing tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day. And the next day…
The immortal John Updike once said, "Some of the best books in the world were written in an hour a day."
I disagree. You can do it in 30 minutes.
And I'm telling you — you HAVE 30 minutes a day. For some reason, an hour seems impossible to most of us, but 30 minutes is in reach.
You don't need to quit your job to be an artist. You don't need to take out a heart-stopping loan in order to get an advance degree in creativity. You don't need to move to Paris. You don't need to change your life.
You just need to bow down before the humble kitchen timer, every single day.
I bring this up because this week somebody asked me how to learn discipline, and I remembered the way my mom taught it to me. My whole life as a child was determined by her little white kitchen timer. And I seem to remember that it was always set to 30 minutes.
30 minutes for piano practice. 30 minutes for math homework. 30 minutes to study French verbs. 30 minutes to write thank you notes after Christmas. 30 minutes to finish that goddamn diorama for 5th grade social studies class of Hannibal crossing the alps in a shoebox. 30 minutes to practice hitting balls around in the backyard in preparation for softball season. 30 minutes to clean your bedroom.
Do you have any idea how much you can get done when you focus your attention on something for 30 minutes a day?
Can you imagine the shape you would be in, if you exercised seriously for 30 minutes a day? Can you imagine the languages you could learn in that little block of time, if you kept it up? How much your drawing would improve? How much better your garden would be? Your guitar playing? How much ANYTHING improves, in 30 minutes a day, honored consistently?
Is it glamorous? Nope. Is it dramatic? Nope. Is it effective? THE MOST.
I am 44 years old and I am working on my seventh book right now. I am busy with other things. I don't have the hours I long for to devote myself completely to researching and writing this story. I may have those hours at some point in 2015, but I don't have them now. My inbox is filled with emails. My desk is covered with mail. I am behind on a hundred promises. I have not unpacked my suitcase this whole year. But fuck it. I'm not waiting around for life to be perfect before I work on my vocation. And 30 minutes isn't going to make or break anything.
So I set the timer on my iPhone for a half hour every single day and I work on that novel. I've been doing this for months now. I do it in airports, in hotel rooms, in taxis, between interviews, backstage at the TED conference, whenever I can find that little humble block of time. It is not the ideal working environment. It is not the ideal block of time. And you know what? It doesn't matter. My new book is GROWING LIKE A WEED.
Don't wait for the world to clear out time and space for your dreams and your art. It doesn't happen that way. The world rushes in, and always will. Wait for things to be perfect and you'll die waiting. Push back a bit. You go get yourself a kitchen timer and clear out your own little space. You'll be amazed what happens.
Every single day. 30 minutes. I'm serious.
Heart,
LG
MAGICAL THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “EXPERIENCE BECOMING…” in 2006, a public school t…
MAGICAL THOUGHT OF THE DAY: "EXPERIENCE BECOMING…"
in 2006, a public school teacher had her students write letters to famous authors, asking their advice on the arts. This is the FANTASTIC response Kurt Vonnegut send back:
What a beautiful, generous man.
My suggestion is that we all take his advice today about writing a six-line poem, sharing it with nobody, tearing it up into little pieces and scattering it away.
Experience becoming, everyone! Let's do it! Creation for the sake of creation!
(And thank you to my own best teacher ever, Ms. Carpenter, for sharing this link with me!)
Onward,
LG
New video! Dear Ones – In case you’re interested, here’s an interview on THE S…
New video!
Dear Ones –
In case you're interested, here's an interview on THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS I did recently in Melbourne, Australia — interviewed by the charming and wonderful Caroline Baum, whom I madly adore…
Elizabeth Gilbert: The Signature of All Things – The Wheeler Centre: Books, Writing, Ideas
wheelercentre.com
The Wheeler Centre is a new kind of cultural institution, dedicated to the discussion and practice of writing, books and ideas. The Centre is a cornerstone of Melbourne’s UNESCO City of Literature status.
Maybe even a duty?
WANNA BUY MY HOUSE? Open House this Sunday! Hi guys! As some of you know, I…
WANNA BUY MY HOUSE?
Open House this Sunday!
Hi guys!
As some of you know, I'm selling my beautiful house in Frenchtown, NJ (where I wrote both COMMITTED and THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS)…in order to move, well, about 1/4 of a mile away, into another lovely house in Frenchtown.
Why am I moving?
Because apparently I have to move every few years or I go a little nuts.
So I'm selling my place, and I was wondering if any of hlu lovelies wants to buy it?
If you click on this website, you can join me on the world's dorkiest video tour of the whole property! And you can read the NY Time story about the house sale. So click here:
So if you are crazy enough to seriously consider this, and you would like to come see the place, contact my friend Rayya Elias who is my property manager and arrange to visit this Sunday May 4th, between 1:30 and 3:30pm.
Her email is: propertymanager3r@gmail.com
This place is a heaven for writers/artists/dreamers/gardeners/chefs/creators.
Which I know most of you are…
It is my dearest wish to keep the place in the family!
Thanks, and enjoy the video tour!
Heart and ONWARD,
LG
Eat, Pray, Crib | Buy author Elizabeth Gilbert's beautiful home. – eatpraycrib.com
www.eatpraycrib.com
Dear Ones — I’m selling my beautiful perfect house. Why? Because I’m a restless person and I need to move all the time. It’s time to move, then! Otherwise, there is no sane reason to sell this exquisite and lovingly renovated “four-over-four” Italianate Victorian house that was built in 1869 by the…