I came across this post from a few years back and thought it might serve to inspire someone who's pondering a new project. What is your "thousand words?"
Several years ago, I heard author, actor, and artist McNair Wilson say “Put something into the world everyday that wasn’t there before.”
That simple piece of advice has made a difference in my life by helping me renew my efforts to daily put aside time for creativity. Writers are gifted in finding ways to avoid doing what we know we need to do, and we find ourselves doing household chores rather than planting ourselves at the computer. Even the time we spend at the computer, which should be creative time, can turn into checking email and balancing the checkbook.
I set a goal to try and write at least a thousand words a day—a thousand words that weren’t in the world yesterday—a thousand words that can add up over time to be a screenplay or a novel. So, since I began this practice, by God's grace, I’ve completed many screenplays, blog posts, and novels in addition to writing I don’t know how many articles and devotions--all inspired in some degree by McNair’s advice. He even helped me get out my paints again.
Before I go to sleep at night, I think about what I’ve put into the world that day. It may not have been much. I might think my work less than the best, and no one but God and me may have known what I even attempted. But I give him thanks that he's enabled me to aim for faithfulness in using the gifts and talents God has given me. Sometimes my "thousand words" is just five hundred words, but that's not the point. The point is to put your gifts into the world.
I remember the words of Paul from Colossian 3, “Whatsoever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus…” Before I let my thousand words go, I make sure I put them in God’s hands.
What might God be calling you to put into the world today? What is your version of a "thousand words?" What creative endeavors have you been putting off until a rainy day, cheating yourself and those around you out of the joy those projects might bring?
Go ahead. Go for it. Who knows the thousand ways he might possibly use your endeavors to bless others?