5 things I learned when making a daily drawing for 30 days
The end of 2017 was near, I usually do not make end-of-year lists, but I do have in mind a summary of the passing year and some expectations for the new one.
At Christmas, while gathering with the family, it came to my mind, almost in joke, to make 31 drawings of hearts the first 31 days of the year. I think that this idea of hearts came to me because of having a nice family moment.
I decided to do the challenge and kept the original idea, draw hearts. So, it arrived, January 1st and I started without thinking too much, without any particular purpose, but little by little I realized several benefits that this challenge was having to me, so I decided to share the experience:
5 things I learned:
1. It is a good mental exercise A daily project like this is an excellent exercise for the mind. It keeps you attentive by seeing things differently and collecting information to use later.
2. Create a sense of achievement and motivation Most days I tried to make the drawings in the morning as the first activity of the day. It turns out that achieving that small victory adds motivation to face the rest of the day.
3. Creativity is a process that must be exercised The ideas do not come alone, you must investigate what you want to generate. In this case I did not investigate, but I was very attentive to my surroundings, seeing situations and capturing ideas. A hand-drawing notebook helps the ideas not to fly away.
4. It serves to get amused Many times I start the day with a list of so many tasks in mind, that I can get stuck in that pattern. Making a space to perform a challenge like this helps a lot to get distracted and relax.
5. Do not force yourself to generate an idea Some days took me a little long, days without ideas. The first time it happened, I did not knew what to do, I began to draw by forcing it, in the end something came out and more than an achievement, it was a relief. The second time I went blank of ideas, I left it and went to do other things, an idea came a while later. It is important not to force yourself to generate an idea, it is better to go around and change the scene.
I had never done a challenge like this, I can say it was interesting and fun. Now I am left with a lot of drawings and ideas and with the security that more than a challenge, it was an learning.
The winners and Losers:
All the drawings:
