Twenty One.

Is the magic number.

During a class a few weeks ago, we touched on the idea of 21 being the magic number - the notion that if you do something for 21 days in a row, you begin to build a habit. One that can create something with substance, something with impact.

With us now being in week 29 of the course, I can see how these 29 weeks - while they might not have felt all that significant as we were in them - have added up to a huge amount of change and growth. I already feel like I’m in a completely different place to where I was when I started.

Off the back of that class, I decided to try doing something related to my creative practice each day - whether that was a quick sketch in my sketchbook or adding to a painting I was working on. I’ve been doing this for about two months now. While I haven’t managed to do something every single day - depending on how I’ve been feeling with my health and what else has been going on - I’ve still done far more than I would have if I wasn’t being mindful about making time each day.

It’s also forced me to carve out more space for myself in my daily routine. I now try to use my mornings to do an hour or so of art before going to work, doing chores, or whatever else the day holds.

This small habit also helped pull me out of a creative rut I found myself in back in April. Life felt overwhelming - other areas were getting louder, demanding more energy - and I couldn’t quite see the wood for the trees when it came to my practice.

I’ve also become more forgiving with myself. Not everything in my sketchbook needs to be perfect. It’s okay if sketches are unfinished, or if there are things I’d change - as long as they capture something I’m trying to hold in that moment: a thought, an idea, a type of energy. Some of these sketches have since become springboards - they’ve sparked new paintings and nudged me towards fresh directions in how I can keep pushing my practice forward.