1/24th of your day, just small, but a significant beginning.
One of the challenges in our active, interest-filled lives is how to find time for the new pursuit.
That was my problem when the painting spirit zapped me. It was so strong I wanted to stop everything and do nothing else. But there was no time. My days were so full they overflowed into the evenings, and my weekdays were so full they overflowed into weekends.
Most of it I wanted to do, and enjoyed doing; but even if not, they were things I had to do. It’s all part of being responsible and dependable and following through with previous commitments.
But what to do with the new interest, the new idea, the worthwhile attraction? When will that happen?
It was after a season of despairing about ever really getting going on painting that the gift of the hour-a-day presented itself.
It came quite whimsically really, at Christmas-time when a couple of my then still young children wrapped up some paints and brushes for me as gifts. To them it was merely solution for what to get Dad for Christmas, but for me it was a beautiful thing. “They want me to paint,” I thought. The next day, having holiday time off, I found an abandoned card table, sat down, and painted.
It was very informal. I was playing, really, messing around with the paints . . . just for an hour.
The next day I did the same thing. And the next. Every day during that period I revisited the card table and the paints at the same time, after dinner. It was all just play, nothing at all serious, but I was painting!
By the time Christmas break was over I had the habit, or the beginnings of one. I found that I could do it. Even in my over-full schedule, I could find the one hour and reserve it. I could give myself the permission for that much time out, and I could do it every day!
I still didn’t know where all this was going, but that’s how it started. It’s possibly how anything starts, or can, even in a busy life.
Try it. Put the seed in the ground. Water it every day. One hour.
That seed can’t help but grow.
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Next: the importance of the place.
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
11:09 pm
It’s so easy to get discouraged about what’s seemingly not possible instead of taking steps. And as you mentioned small steps add up. One hour a day amounts to almost a full day’s work per week. Thanks for reminding me of this from a real experience.
1:40 am
Great Hyatt! I did not know that is how you started! The great painter Hyatt! That is how it started for you! That is encouraging! Thank you for sharing! Lisa
4:49 am
Thanks Hyatt!! This is a good encouragement. Like anyone, I find myself frustrated regarding my skill but I know I’m improving over time. I just need to be patient and keep going. When I grab my camera and head out, all other troubles of life disappear. I really enjoy it. :-)
5:09 am
This is such a good encouragement for me. Being a musician, I’d spend many hrs. alone, writing and singing. Recently, I moved my aging parents in and realized that time alone would be slim. I think the one hr. a day will work. I’m going to try it. Thanks again!
6:43 am
This is how I started playing my basson many years ago. I had read somewhere to reserve just 15 minutes a day for some new pursuit. I was in a difficult situation then, my life didn’t seem to go anywhere, and I decided to try it out (but with an hour a day, not just 15 minutes). Playing the basson one hour a day enabled me to see progress in at least one area of my life. And then, slowly, my life picked up momentum again, so much so that I had stopped playing and rented out the bassoon to some young student. Greetings from Switzerland! Franziska
6:56 am
That one hour a day is so sensible is seems simplistic – but considering how much time is otherwise wasted, why not put that hour to good use instead of fretting? A perfect solution to working on finishing some of my pastel pieces – now if I can keep kitty paw prints off them!
Love reading your thoughts each time – keep up the good work!!!
7:58 am
To Do: Paint for one hour today. (No!)
Schedule: Paint for one hour after dinner. (Yes!)
To Do Lists don’t work. Schedules do.
8:56 am
This might apply to a daily watering of the soul, too, Hyatt. 15 minutes a day devoted to intentional thanksgiving. Someone was explaining to me the other day the word “eucharisteo.” In Greek, correct me if I’m wrong, it’s a blend of “grace, gift, thanks, joy,” a word that renders these ingredients inseparable. With Jesus, eucharisteo preceeded every miracle eg. “He broke bread, and gave thanks.” I could get into this … I’m going to set aside 15 min/day, perhaps on my beach walk, purely for watering this grateful thing. Might well be the antidote for so much joy-absence. A small, setting-aside of 15 minutes, for any new interest, on any level. Great concept!
11:15 am
An hour a day…sounds simple and do-able. Most people who started would probably last a week, maybe a month. So, then, what’s your advice for gaining that persistence to keep that “hour” alive for the long run?
8:47 am
love Jack’s comment – i always lose my To-Do lists in my mass of paper piles (which stay out in too many places) so I will sched more than list.
PS
Hy,
ever since i heard you share these principles in dan wood’s living room during your slide art show, i knew this should be written:
A How-To book on How-To -it could even be in yellow and black like the dummy series, but you are way too classy for that!