Last October, I made a clear and firm commitment, tied to my father’s illness, to write my novel for 30 minutes every day.  I kept that commitment almost perfectly (forgot once, fell asleep once) until late-May and then I took off three months.  I started writing again after my husband’s diagnosis in mid-August.  Since then, a couple of things have become clear to me, which I find fascinating in light of the Karen Armstrong quote (see posted titled Karen Armstrong) and the discipline of the creative life.  Those couple of things are this:

• Commitments and practices must have a clear intention.  I never said to myself why I was writing 30 minutes every
  day. I vaguely knew I wanted to finish the book before Dad died but I
  didn’t make the link clear between writing and finishing. I didn’t ask myself, "Is this the best practice to accomplish this?"   So writing 30 minutes a day became more about keeping the
  commitment then finishing.  I’m not saying that is
  bad, as in many ways, what I needed to learn was to show up and engage with the story no matter how I felt.  What I am saying is, I needed to evaluate if my practice was getting me all that I wanted.
• Which brings me to another point: The measurements we calibrate our commitments and practices by need to be evaluated from time to time. Are they bearing fruit? Writing 30 minutes a day was a great practice when I was afraid to write my novel.  Now that I have moved to wanting to finish it, I have changed my measurement to 3 pages a day, every day, until I finish the first draft. 
• Finally, we need to declare clear beginnings and endings to our commitments.  How long?   When do I start?  When do I review?  Clarity is our support buddy!   

We must use care when deciding how we will measure how we create- whether writing, knitting, parenting, house remodeling, or spiritual practice.  It really can make all the difference.

For an article about practices, visit my website.