Sis, You Need Quiet Time!

If you are like me, you probably have thirty thousand ideas floating around in your mind. Thoughts of your next move, and making sure it’s your best move. The notion that you are wasting time by not doing one thing. The desire to be consistent at one thing.

You are not alone.

As creatives, (and need I remind you, we are creative simply because we are created in God’s image) it is perfectly normal and natural for us to desire multiple things that we want to accomplish. God did, in Genesis chapter 1, too.

I encourage you to read the entire 1st chapter of Genesis in your leisure time, however, I’d like to guide your attention to a few things that jumped off the page for me, particularly in Genesis 1:6-10.

God spoke His intention. (vs. 6) – And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.”

God created.(vs. 7) – So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.

God evaluated the result. (vs. 10b) – And God saw that it was good.

God named every result. (vs. 8-10) – God called the vault “sky”…God called the dray ground “land”.

God continued creating until his creation mirrored himself. (vs. 1-27)

There is so much to unpack from this lesson as it relates to us as creatives who struggle with consistency. Most often, the receipts will show that when we are locked in, we are consistent and produce high quality work. Our problem, therefore, is not that we don’t know how to be consistent. For us, often struggle with deciding what to pursue!

This is exactly where I am today. I realize that my struggle is that I honestly (and I am not boasting when I say this) am really good at most things I put my hands to. If I looked at my abilities, I can do so many things well. It may seem like a good problem to have, but I often feel scattered, lacking true passion, and I think I waste too much time not making decisions.

So reading Genesis 1 today really spoke loudly to me because I saw a pattern of creative genius and the productivity needed to produce a true masterpiece. I can appreciate this so much as a woman in my late 30s, unsure of what to do next. I realize now that I am not setting intentions like I need to be, but am rather going with the flow of what is already taking place.

The danger of this is that I am floating, when I really desire to be in intentional motion. I lack direction, decisiveness, and would much rather have someone just tell me what to do, except it wouldn’t work because I’m a creative, ha ha!

I’m built to create! So the first thing I take away from reading Genesis 1 that I will immediately implement within myself is to take some time to set an intention. Notice, I said intentION, as in just ONE! Whew! As hard as it is to do that, I see how important it is. The way my brain works, I set one (or more) a day, but don’t give 100% to any of them. This does not lead to true productivity, and I’m not afraid to admit that at my big age.

Ok, so here it goes (in my God-imaged voice):

Let me make $1000 extra income in the month of July from a side hustle.

A quick glance at Genesis 1:7 tells me what I have to do next: I have to get to work. This is where my creativity goes wild! I am quick to come up with ideas that I can do to make my intention a reality. But the truth is, of those ideas, I’ve got to decide on ONE. I have to choose!

My homegirl Audrey and I talk every day, and on a text she shared with me something so profound that it’s been with me ever since. She pointed out that the word -cide means “to kill”, and so to deCIDE, we must choose one, and literally kill all ideas (at least for the moment).

Laser focus on one thing is necessary for several reasons, including the notion that, while focusing on one thing, it gets all of your attention. Outside of being a full time employee, mom, and wife, there is very little time left for scattered attention. It is therefore super imperative that I decide what I want to focus on, and put all of my attention there.

This is where I get stuck, because, like I told you, I have seen success at many things I’ve tried. Trying something new would be fun, but is it productive for me to start something new? Doing something I know how to do seems like better choice, but then I wonder, is it going to help me make $1000 in the month of July?

So then what happens next may not surprise you: I do nothing. Here’s where it gets interesting. I realized that my decision to do nothing is a trauma response. (Yea, I bet you didn’t see that coming).

My decision to decide/kill all activity is how I respond when I am triggered by fear or past experiences that did not go in my favor. It literally cripples me and makes me immobile.

As I write this, it breaks my heart that I am here: crippled by fear. Yet, I know so many women are. Listen sis, we need to time to deal with this fear thing, and it starts today.

I wish I could write to you from a place of “overcoming fear”, but I’d be lying. My truth is that fear has stopped me so many times in these last few months, that I am now fighting for my mentality. The one thing that is helping me is having sisters and friends who remind me of who I am and what I am capable of. Sisterhood is so important, and I thank God for each of them.

Here’s why I think quiet time would be beneficial in this season for me…and yes you can surely benefit from it too:

1. I need to identify what I’d like to pursue, and what I need to let go of.

2. I need time to think…like really think…uninterrupted and focused. I have ideas that I’d like to extrapolate out a few years, do a bit of research, and see if I would like the lifestyle it will create on the other side. Patt Flynn talked about this recently on a podcast (Journey To Launch) and I was immediately in agreement with this.

3. I need time to strategize. I believe strategy will help me to work through my fears…do it afraid.

4. I need time to write: journalling about my feelings and thoughts helps me to move them out of my head (and heart) so that I have space to think more clearly.

Though we are creative beings, we need clarity in order to pursue something with intentionality, just like God. I encourage you to find some time and space in your schedule this week (like I will) to be quiet. During this time, journal your feelings. Dream. Strategize. Decide.

Go For It Sis!

Meshele