A Note on Notebooks

While you are practicing your Daily Moment Art, it is essential that you carry a small notebook and a pen with you. This notebook does not need to be elaborate; it can be nothing more than a piece of printer paper folded to fit into your pocket. I prefer to carry a small memo pad that fits easily into any pocket, one with a durable plastic cover to protect it from wear and tear (and if you are diligent, they will get worn and torn!).

Your brain is fallible, and if you create a Moment in your mind while you are busy doing something else that has a higher priority, then you are likely to forget it. With a memo pad, you can quickly jot these thoughts down and return to them later. The ink will never forget.

If you want to use your fancy new future phone to take notes, please don't. Not only can the batteries die when you need them most, but the future phone is a primary weapon of mass distraction, and is likely the culprit that is stealing your precious moments from you.

And if you're like me, your notepad will also become filled with grocery lists, last-minute to-dos, phone numbers and emails. There's nothing wrong with that; in fact, you may find that it will help you to be a little more efficient with your time so that you have longer to create your Moments. Your brain may forget; your notepad will not.

If nothing else, when you find yourself with a brief moment and nothing to do, this notepad and pen can be your canvas and brush.

Now have fun!

-SRT

Whatever you have, you can use.

This first week will be very simple. Whether you're in your office, sitting on your rolling leather chair, or you're stuck in traffic, 5:30 am (or pm), or you're vacuuming up the 124th Cheerio from the kitchen floor, I want you to relax your shoulders, roll your neck, and take a deep breath.

Hold it.

Then breathe out, slowly.

Think of the first thing that comes to mind. I don't care how ridiculous it is, I want you to jot down your thought onto a notepad.

NOTE: Go and buy a small notepad to fit into your pocket; this is essential to your practice.

Now, grab a couple of things that are close to you to use as an artistic medium. You may have a marker and a Post-it, pencil and some computer paper, or those Cheerios and some glue. For this exercise, I found an index card and a stapler.

Next, I want you to create a quick sketch, doodle, grain collage, something that will reflect whatever silliness your inner voice had told you.

Somewhere on this visual piece, jot down the thoughts that you had relating to it, and if possible, try to make it a little poetic. This does not need to take more than 5 minutes, and you can do this while your computer is booting.

When you are finished, breathe. Put it down. Admire it. Laugh at it. Laud it. Believe it is the silliest thing you've ever created. But remember: You created it.

You created it in no time at all, instead of twiddling your thumbs, instead of watching another internet video about rainbows or being on a boat.

Congratulations, you've just created your first piece of Moment Art! For the rest of this week, I want you do to this once, and only once, per day.

Now, because this Moment does not belong to you but to the world and to the voices that spoke through you, leave this work on your closest coworker's desk, unsigned.

And to be fair, here's mine:

-SRT

Easy, right? Who knew!?

What is Moment Art?

Moment Art is a creative work taken as a snapshot of a moment. Whether your interest is in writing, poetry, art, music, or anything else, Moment Art is a candid, Polaroid image of a certain scene in your preferred medium.

Many of us, myself included, will often go days, week, months, even an entire year without doing anything creatively. This is often due to long hours of exhausting work, at home or in the workplace, during which every ounce of creative energy is drained from us through cooking, cleaning, fighting traffic, reading and writing sterile memos, heavy lifting, thoughts of slavery while working for a boss that doesn’t know your face let alone your name, and during every ephemeral moment of downtime, we breathe, use the bathroom, complain, text, and “insert favorite social networking site here.” These fleeting periods of downtime are the perfect moments for divining inspiration and creativity, and it is these times that we will utilize for our Moments, whatever they may be.

Through this blog, I will introduce you to the practice of Daily Moment Art. This is not a course, and you may begin where you wish. If you find an idea that interests you, seize it! If not, find another that you like, or try to create your own. There are no rules here. The most important idea is that you begin creating.

After practicing some of the examples I will be introducing every week, you will become more comfortable in your creation, and it will become more natural for you. It doesn’t take much time, anywhere between 5 minutes to 1 hour will be sufficient, depending on how much time you can spare during your day. If you can only spare 1 minute, that’s fine too, just carry a notepad around with you to do so. And don’t worry about who will see your work.

Everyone will.

That’s right, not only will you develop the ability to create, you will also master the ability to share your work without doubts of your abilities. Natalie Goldberg, in her book Writing Down the Bones, tells how Zen masters in Japan would write beautiful haiku, and then send them, in a bottle, out to sea. This degree of non-attachment is what you will strive to achieve while you practice Moment Art daily.

Finally, the most important part of Moment Art is to have fun. If you’re not having fun, then you’re doing it wrong.

-SRT