When Our Delight Becomes a Task

We live in a fast-paced, routinely and deeply dissatisfying culture.
This is not news. We live it. It is the water. We are the fish.
In this state, it is too easy for the daily actions we undertake in the practice of our creative craft to become another set of tasks on our to-do-list. If we allow it, we can sit down to read or to write and find ourselves rushing to get done, pressed to get the other “tasks” on our list finished before the day ends.
But this work – this work of taking in the creative work of others and produce the same – must be handled differently. This work is an oasis. It brings us joy. It feeds a part of us that resides at our core. It is where we value producing over consuming. It is where we marvel in the doing, not rest in the done. It is part of our image-bearing as creations of the Creator. And so, for these reasons, this work must not obey the pace and intent of the many other daily tasks we undertake.
Pause and recognize the difference between tasks and intentional actions. Move your creative work out of the task column and into the intentional, thoughtful action column.
And if possible, hire someone to mow the grass. Only you can write your next short story.