With Intent

Everywhere I turn, I come across messages on the importance of daily practice, and it leads me to a question: can I call it practice if I don’t consciously think in those terms? There is a difference between doing and doing with intention. I am great (okay, quite good) at doing. Day after day, I write: journal entries, notes, the words of others—sometimes followed by my thoughts on them. I am less consistent with photography, but I do pick up my camera regularly, and I am making more of an effort with art. In fact, that’s the one I likely proactively practice most.

What do I mean by intention? Well, I guess, most succinctly, I would call it skill building. Sure, I could argue that writing in a journal each day is good practice at stringing words together and that composing a pleasing image in my camera’s viewfinder gets me more comfortable with composition techniques, in general, but it’s not quite enough. After all, hours spent doing something the wrong way might get you somewhere, but will you end up even close to where you want to be?

Such notions have taken up a fair amount of real estate in my mind. While I don’t know that I’ll ever clear the clutter, I’d like to try. Being here now is just one attempt.

A few years ago, I realized that I am a good student but a slow learner. No worries; I’ll spare you the lecture on how schools do many things; not one of which could rightly be called education. I will, instead, point out that learning takes work, time, dedication, and desire—the last element being, perhaps, the most misunderstood.

So, let’s put this out there. I desire to: become a better writer, a better photographer, a better artist, and a better Cheryl Ruffing.

How about you?