21 Days to Creative Abundance, Day 5

Gratitude

The universe seems to be throwing challenges my way about this 21-day process. My computer is acting up, probably a battery in the process of failing. That's not such an easy problem to fix here in Mexico where the nearest Apple store is in Guadalajara. However, I am still determined. So here I am on my iPhone writing today's post.

Today, Sebastian Michaels asked us to talk about distractions again and to find our own way to deep focus. Distractions are, of course, the enemy of deep focus, the one thing we all need to find in order to create.

When I think about distractions, I think of outside distractions and inside distractions. We talk a lot about email and Facebook and phone calls and all the things that are outside of us that cause distractions, but I also think about my inside distractions and think they may be just as hazardous as outside distractions.

Internal things that pull me out of creative focus include hunger and emotions, such as feeling lonely, bored, frustrated or tired. It is pretty common for me to be creating and suddenly think I need a cup of tea or a snack. If I take that break, there's a very good chance that I won't get back to where I was for a significant period of time and when I do get back, it takes a while to regain that same level of deep focus. 

Just 15 Minutes

One of the techniques that Sebastian talks about is "just 15 minutes." He is normally talking about just doing something for 15 minutes as a way to get into a creative process. However, it seems to me that using that "just 15 minutes" technique could also be a way to avoid getting out of the creative focus too soon.

If I were deep in creation and decided I needed a cup of tea, if I said I could have that cup of tea in 15 minutes, I could stay in the creative process longer and might be more effective.  i’m going to try this. 

 

Challenge #5 from Photoshop Artistry was about making a simple image to send hope and love to someone. In the process of creating the image, an effect popped up that I liked but had no idea how I did it. It took almost two hours to create the effect shown in the image above where you can see texture

within the image. As often happens, I finally realized that it came because I made a mistake. I've now documented how to make that same "mistake" in the future. 

PS ... my computer decided to co-operate long enough for me to finish this post. Talk about deep focus. I knew I couldn't do anything except finish this if I wanted to maintain my commitment. Who knows when it will go wonky again.