Food for Thought

What's a guy to do?

I've got what feels like a million (read 3) things going on this week that all require some level of creativity.  Leading a small group tomorrow night, a Christmas party on Thursday, and a sermon on Sunday.

This really isn't an overwhelming amount by any means, but I've got nothing.

Not to mention I haven't blogged in nearly a month (and yes I'm aware I owe you two more blogs on the armor of God - it's been a crazy few weeks).  In any case, I'm stuck right in the center of a major slump in creativity.  So what better to do than just start writing and see what happens?

The first thought that occurs to me is that I'm really busy.  Everyone is.  It's the holiday season.  But I've also got 4 small children at home, and while my wife handles the bulk of the duties of the day to day home operations (she is truly Supermom), somehow all my time and energy still seem to disappear into an all-consuming black hole.  I'm blessed.  But I'm busy.  But I think that I'm not busying myself in productive ways, rather, I'm allowing my time to slip away from me in a variety of non-productive activities.

And in that busyness lies my fatal error.  I see it now.  I'm not feeding my mind, and my creativity suffers for it.  I still get my Scripture time in, but I'm not digging in as deep.  I'm not journaling, which is something that really helps me to work out what I'm reading (if you're not doing it, give it a shot - as a supplement to your devotional time, not a replacement).  I've been reading the same book for roughly 2 months now.  I usually devour books in 2-3 days.  Even my late night television (after Conan) tells the story.  The meaningless drivel I've been watching lately is a departure from my regular habit of seeking out some brainy independent films on Netflix (some real gems) or watching something on the History or Discovery channel.

To borrow from the old adage,  "You've got to spend money to make money," I think I can make the case that I need to spend time to make time.  Or rather invest it.  Invest time in feeding my mind which, in turn, will foster creativity, which will save me time in the long run.  I must admit, this is not a foreign concept, nor would I dare classify it as an epiphany.  Apparently I just needed to remind myself to focus on my mind's diet.  It's been junk food and irregular meal times lately.  Trust me, I've seen what that can do to a body...

How do you feed your mind?  What do you do when you hit a creative drought?