Artists seem to be intrinsically undisciplined. This is easily seen during high school and college years, when studies are shirked for artistic endeavors. I had an assignment during my first year in seminary to log each of my 168 hours for one week. 20 of those were spent playing guitar! Needless to say, I wasn't spending as much time on homework as I should have.
Artists jump at inspiration. Something comes up and all of a sudden it's, "I need to write/paint/play/create right now!" because if you wait, it'll disappear forever. How many ideas haven't been created because we couldn't/didn't act on the impulse? I can count about 12,000 so far.
Truth is, great artists are disciplined. Great songwriters write 8 hours a day. It's a full-time job. Great musicians play and play and play, practicing and perfecting their craft. Great writers write, edit, re-write, edit, write, etc. And so on with each form of the arts. So, it's really not fair to say artists aren't disciplined. We're just disciplined in what makes us feel alive. Por ejemplo: Right now I have a fantastical list of important things I should be doing, but this takes priority. Why? Because if I don't do this now, nothing else will get done as well as it could.
While training, I had a thought. Discipline in one area of life causes discipline in all areas of life. I wasn't a fan of running, but I forced myself into the discipline of it. Simultaneously, I scheduled my life in advance more than I ever had. I ate healthier meals. I slept reasonable hours. Discipline in one thing is a transferable skill.
If that's true, the undisciplined artist has good news! By becoming more disciplined in your craft, you may find that you become disciplined in other areas of your life as well. The more I know I need to blog, the more I schedule out my day so I can have time to do it, and once I finish I'll go work on my to-do list unencumbered.
I once suggested to a friend that her prayer life might become more disciplined if she began regularly going to the gym, a separate discipline. (Think "monastic asceticism.") She never took the challenge, which shows how difficult discipline really is. It's even harder to have by yourself. Ever notice how similar discipline is to disciple? That's a person who models their life exactly after another person. I can think of at least 12 famous examples, but those people has someone to follow, to encourage, teach, correct, and guide them. Discipline is difficult alone.
There is an obvious spiritual connection here: to be a disciple of Jesus takes discipline. It won't come easy. But there's a less-obvious principle here: You may become a more disciplined disciple by becoming a more disciplined artist, student, employee, exerciser, on and on. And maybe you could be a more disciplined artist by becoming a more disciplined Christian. Regardless, discipline is profitable for everyone.
Those are my thoughts. What are yours?
8 comments:
I co-sign on this. good stuff.
I co-co-sign. Running has helped keep the rest of my life in order.
Weird, I was JUST thinking about this this morning. I was thinking about how if I made a career out of writing, would I become a better or worse writer for forcing myself to put something down on paper regularly rather than wait for that overwhelming inspiration to express myself?
I was also thinking about this in the context of the quality of the work and bipolar disorder though. If an artist creates when they're truly inspired or feel the absolute NEED to, is the result always better? Is the problem that I can only handle so much order in one area of my life at a time or is it a matter of the length of time I have order in EVERYTHING before I relapse into chaos (liking dropping all of the balls I'm juggling at once)? And the association between manic-depressive people and their creative outbursts has been theorized for a long time, so are artists suffering from it truly restricted and unable to "force" it on most days? What is the exact relationship between natural ability, passion, and practice?
Personally, I have had periods of creativity during depression, mania, and just plain normalness, but I know that as far as acheiving long-term goals and having faith in my own art, depression and self-doubt have always nearly crippled me in the past. For the first time though, I am both an adult AND clear-headed at the moment, so I've been learning how to actively avoid self-doubt rather than give in so easily, and I'm seeing the effects of that in my life already. I know the pendulum will swing back eventually...but maybe I'll be better prepared to work *through* it if I'm disciplined.
Matt - Thanks!
Lee - Isn't it crazy how that happens? I guess the monks had something going after all.
Kristen - What did you decide? You posed the question.... what are you leaning toward? Will you be a better writer for forcing yourself? Will you become a hack at too young an age? I want to know!
Also, I had no idea you had manic-depressive tendencies. That's a very interesting lens to see this question through! Perhaps discipline would normalize "inspired" moments? I don't know. I'd like to hear, though.
Well, since I plan on going to grad school for literature/writing as soon as financially possible, I have no intentions of becoming a hack, ha. And maybe this is just the mania talking, but I feel destined for more than I am thus far, so I refuse to quit just yet. :)
Yeah...I have the less fun version of bipolar, the kind with more lows and sans hallucinations. When I'm "manic," I'm just slap-happy, aggressive, and disorganized, and my mind races too much to be productive, so theoretically, long-term discipline should help with organization and possibly getting all those ideas down before they disappear. I'll let you know next time I'm having a moment, hahaha.
If "discipline" ties into "disciple" then it would also tie into "discipling." When choosing to walk alongside someone, you have to actually walk alongside them. You can't run next to them one day and then drag behind them the next and then keep pace with them the next.
And I would think that an artistic mentor, actively engaged in discipling, would also have to set a pace. We creative types may march to the beat of a different drummer, but when it comes to discipling, we need the same beat - and the same drum. We can't switch to a banjo in the middle and expect the other person to pick up the tune.
Is creativity an excuse for sporadic behavior? Or can we train ourselves to be something different and potentially something better?
Lauren - Oooo, an artistic mentor! That sounds like fun.
I wonder if part of being a good mentor (any type of mentor) is watching the mentoree and letting them know their skills might be elsewhere. Por ejemplo, if they aren't getting the guitar, but you move them to drums and they totally win. I know that's not where you were going with it, but I had to spin off.
I think Kristin was asking the same type of question - is creativity an excuse for sporadic behavior? An excuse? Probably not. I think that's why I try to block out time for creativity, that way it's not shirking other responsibilities. I do think pursuing artistic discipline can help us become better artists.
The spin off metaphor works... especially since I'm totally switching to drums if I fail with this guitar-learning thing.
And agreed that creativity is not an excuse for sporadic behavior. Musicians are considered to be creative, and yet they still have to practice.
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