CAPTAIN'S LOG Day 14 - Child's Play
Forenoon Watch in the studio, 24th October 2026
Two weeks in.
You will now be in the thick of your project, out in open water. The Half may be bringing things up for you that are familiar, possibly difficult. Believe it or not, that's good. It's one of the reasons creative practice can be so powerful. You may be finding it hard to prioritise your project - I certainly feel like Christmas is coming at me at a rate of knots (ALL THE MARITIME METAPHORS) - so I hope we are all reaching for our bare minimum when we need to.
As your project becomes integrated into your days, you may have noticed a rhythm developing. Perhaps you're beginning to recognise that thinking about your project, daydreaming about it in the car as you go to work, waking up with it on your mind: these all count as creative practice because that's how artists operate all the time. We carry it with us in our heart and mind. You may have become quite attached to your project. I hope it is becoming a haven for you, a place you can reliably retreat to each day for quiet concentration.
If you've struggled to create a routine or find a rhythm so far, this week I recommend you take a moment each morning, setting the intention to make time and space in your day to engage with your project. Remember those watchwords: commitment and consistency. The power in daily art challenges comes from the work, from the actual doing of something, over and again. It's really important that you turn up for yourself consciously each day, even if you "don't feel like it". This is where the our third watchword comes in: patience.
So many of our struggles with creative practice come from wishing things were other than they are. Regardless of our level of skill or experience we can battle with the process and with the "results". This is because we don't realise the weight of the expectations we carry with us into Making Art and Being Creative.
A key expectation is that things are happening too slowly or not fast enough. I think this is partly driven by contemporary culture, especially by a general obsession with "optimisation". Of course, it's intensified by how fast information can come at us these days; answers to questions are seconds away via our phone and the cadence of our minds arguably speeds up when we scroll social media.
Hand in hand with this is a misunderstanding of just how long it takes to get good at something, to build dexterity or fluency, to feel satisfied with our work. Even people who are talented straight out of the gate will encounter, eventually, something in their practice they need to be patient with. Development - whatever that looks like for each of us and for our work - takes a long time.
This bears repeating: development takes a long time. And it will take longer if you struggle with that fact. This is why I like to talk to people engaging with creativity - no matter what stage they're at - about Maria Montessori.
The Montessori method is grounded in some understandings about child development that are directly relevant to adult creativity and art-making. They are considered conditions in which children can, in a way, teach themselves. We are born autodidacts with an inherent drive to manifest our potential. Just look at the way babies learn to walk - they do so through looking, seeing, wanting, reaching. We are just the same; that's why I call The Half a voyage of discovery. "What's that over there? What if...?"
A foundational understanding in the Montessori method is that play is actually the work of children, with the goal being a sense of satisfaction, the readiness to move on to something new, and the freedom to choose what that will be. In Montessori schools all over the world, teachers are told to Follow The Child and parents are given special instruction so that there's continuity across the child's school and home experience. They're called "parent educators" and are advised not to interfere with their child's natural process, not to hurry, correct or finish things for them.
I encourage you this week - and for the duration of The Half - to be your own inner parent educator. Allow your development to unfold in its own time. Assume you have no idea how your work or your project are supposed to go. Release your grip on any plans you've made; don't throw them out but give them some space. Create the conditions for your self-education, for personal satisfaction, for the freedom to enjoy what you like and, perhaps, move on.
Read through the following Fundamentals and notice the ones that stand out to you. Bear in mind that I will be doing this too. Just because I'm a creative overachiever (more on "achievement" next week btw) doesn't mean I do all of these things perfectly, all the time. We teach what we need to know.
Fundamentals for Thriving as a Creative & Artistic Adult, à la Montessori
Create a predictable environment.
Schedule regular time in a dedicated space, whether that space is a book, the kitchen table, or a whole shed. Have somewhere you know is yours to return to each day. Write your name on it if you have to.
Maintain a sense of order.
Be it a journal or a desk or a studio, keep (make) things tidy and uncluttered. Take time to organise your materials. If there are things you want to use, corral them and make them easily accessible. If you're easily distracted perhaps put them slightly out of sight so they don't draw your attention.
Create a sense of beauty in your environment.
Give your work space a dust. Clear the bins. Plump cushions. Get yourself some flowers or put a scented candle nearby. Put up some of those postcards you bought at the gallery that time. Play music which makes you misty or makes you want to dance.
Offer Opportunity.
Do you need some new materials? Is there anything you'd like to have a go at? Brainstorm options for next steps so there's something you can reach for when you're ready.
Concentrate.
Give yourself time to lose yourself in your work. 20 minutes is the minimum; 40 minutes is better. Put your phone on flight mode. Insist that you are not interrupted.
Allow yourself freedom to choose.
To be straight up, you don't know the half of what you're genuinely interested in because you're too busy with life admin to stop and pay attention. You can pivot at any point in this process. If your project is dull and you wish you were doing something else, ask yourself what that might be. Don't be scared or sad if nothing comes: as much as your development as a creative or artistic person takes time, so can trusting your instincts - or being able to connect with them in the first place.
Which of the above stands out as something you can arrange for yourself as an "inner parent" this week?
Write about the ones you could focus on. Then actually DO something to foster your own creative thriving.
Take care of yourself. You matter. This is important.
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A Note on Play
It can be so hard to engage in our own expressive process when we think we need to be good at "playing". Busy adults often find the advice to "be more playful" terribly unhelpful. I will never exhort you to "just play" because it's too vague. We play well when we know what the rules are and when there aren't too many of them.
If you struggle with thinking you're not good at playing, set that idea aside for a while and focus on your materials instead. Create some constraints for yourself - limitations are a great way to play: set a short timer and do a speed run; use only one or two colours; confine yourself to a single subject; say you're only going to take a small number of photographs; use black & white; instead of writing, dictate; write a haiku or some blackout poetry; draw or paint with your non-dominant hand; work on the floor; use much bigger paper; use much smaller paper. Use a weird tool. Exaggerate, be a giant. Be tiny, make art like a mouse.
One of the inhibitors for adults when it comes to "playing" is not wanting to waste things. Give yourself permission to make something that will go in the bin. It's a bit like making "bad art" but is more practical: what would you do with your materials if you could chuck what you've made out afterwards? Try it. See what happens.
Want to super charge your project? Set a timer. Work on the floor. Waste things.
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Other things to try this week to activate a sense of play, pleasure, discovery, or curiosity:
Change One Thing
You can create confusion for yourself if you change your materials and process and subject matter all at once. If you're working with loads of different materials or techniques, stick with something for a few days and, when you want to change, keep your process mostly the same but change only one thing. It might be a colour, a tool, a topic, the scale, a material type.
Quantity over Quality (yes, you read that right)
Work in a series. Repeat something five, ten, twenty times.
Start a bunch of small things in a single sitting.
Make something big then cut it up.
Write HEAPS.
(Don't throw anything out yet though.)
Do some Time-Travelling with Your Younger Self
- find a picture of you aged 7 or younger and put it somewhere you will see it every day
- make a playlist of songs that you listened to around that age; if you're not sure what they are, google the Top 40 in the year of your 7th birthday
- describe 10 snapshots: this is about memory recall but focus less on events (what happened) and more on scenes or images (what you can see) in your mind. Spend a few minutes free-writing about them. Make it all the way to TEN = there's gold in the writing you do when you think you're "all out of images"
- watch a favourite movie from your childhood (be careful who you watch it with - you may wish to watch it alone if you can)
- go to an art store and find the section you would have loved as a kid. Buy yourself a little something as a treat.
Connect with your senses.
Do a sense scan: notice pleasurable or lovely things you can see, feel, smell, hear, taste.
Do that regularly this week. Go on the hunt for them if necessary.
Remember your Secret Reason.
If you wrote down your secret reason for the project, this is the perfect time to look at it again. Back when you started, if you didn't think about the "secret reason" for wanting to do The Half, write about what it could be now in your journal. Why did you come on this voyage with me? What hopes do you have for your work and for yourself?
To the extent that you can, notice any expectations you're carrying and try to set them down. Pick up your tools instead.
Steady as she goes,
xAB
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.- from Desiderata (1927), Max Ehrmann
