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Michelle Marie Engelman Berns's avatar

Manna from the Ubiquitous T-Wheel you are.

(Spoken in the voice of Yoda)

Sarah you amazing woman you….

I’ll be 60 this year ( I feel 40 so this is still weird) with 4 grown human children and 4 beautiful in-law spouse children and 7 human grandkids (one of which is a goat grandchild) and given your (spacial and intimate) permission to journal when possible, instead of not journal everyday because that would (in my mind) make Julia and the Artist Way rubber stamp me an real artist; this is wondrous.

I await your continuing Mama Manna, and cherish you and your bravery and insight and especially your Creative Ecosystem

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Sarah Shotts's avatar

Thank you so much Michelle! It means a lot I know that this resonates. ❤️

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Claire Venus ✨'s avatar

Haha 🐐- The photo of Davy!!!

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Sarah Shotts's avatar

It’s one of my absolute favorites! He had just started to move around on his own. I left the room for just a minute and came back to that. 😂

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Lisa Moraeus's avatar

Love this! Freedom! I journal almost every morning, but then again I don’t have kids. And I don’t write because I have to, I write to get my thoughts to calm down and focus so I can get on with my day. :) I love The Artist’s Way. But I don’t follow it religiously. I don’t follow anything religiously, I’m too obnoxious. 😁

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Sarah Shotts's avatar

This exactly Lisa! We have to make things work for us. ❤️

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Becky Handley Old Profile's avatar

I love this so much. I too have felt that sting when I have been doing something consistently for ages and then I miss a day and it's like my world has crumbled. It is a horrible feeling. And then I usually go ages without doing it because I am all or nothing! But I love the idea of being intentionally inconsistent. Thank you, Sarah. 🖤

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Sarah Shotts's avatar

Yes! I've definitely found, for me, a don't break the chain approach does more harm than good. Embracing the squirrels and butterflies these days. 🐿️🦋💫

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George Green's avatar

Intentional inconsistency is the phrase I needed today as I veer into an all or nothing minefield (starting a newsletter). Thank you 😊

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Christina Golian's avatar

A wonderful read and so utterly relatable! It reminded me of when I lost my DuoLingo Spanish streak - 150 days in a row then the chain was broken and I haven’t logged back on since. Intentional inconsistency is such a great turn of phrase. And as an AuDHDer, I don’t think I really have any other choice. 😅

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Sarah Shotts's avatar

Don’t break the chain is the worst! 😂

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Jenn- jscreative's avatar

Love this… I’m all for “practice”, and have never been a fan of rigid rules or structure.

PS… what a sweet picture of your little guy! 😍

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Tay's avatar

I identify so strongly with this!! I hate anything that emphasizes streaks. Like no, I don't have to do things everyday. On low spoon days, somethings just aren't important enough to make the cut.

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Sarah Shotts's avatar

100%!

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Elizabeth | The Kid Lit Mama's avatar

This is so beautiful! Why did it make me tear up?! Thanks for the permission to be inconsistent on purpose.

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Sarah Shotts's avatar

I’m so grateful this resonated Elizabeth! You do such important and meaningful work. I hope this framework is helpful. It’s been really impactful for me. ❤️

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Federica Minozzi's avatar

I don't have kids yet, but I am just like you. Consistency might kill me, or simply push me to give something up if I can't do it every single day. I'm learning to embrace inconsistency too. It gets better after a while, when you notice progress is still there and you don't really have to prove your worth to anyone, especially not to yourself.

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Sarah Shotts's avatar

I’m so glad to hear it’s not just me! We really can shift our mindset on this - it’s just really hard! Thanks for commenting.

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Aly Prades's avatar

I’m recovering from OCD and I had similar experience with Julia Cameron’s approach not working for me. Part of my recovery is to “mess up on purpose” so very similar to practicing inconsistency. At first it was so hard to do morning pages 4-5 days a week—all I saw/felt was failure. But now I am deliciously inconsistent and don’t even notice how many days a week I write or paint. Even without a perfect record, it all adds up!

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Sarah Shotts's avatar

I’ve never been evaluated for OCD, but that sounds so similar to my own journey. I’ve come to embrace mistakes and mess in my art practice and my work has become even stronger than when I tried to white knuckle my way to perfection.

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